The pride of Britain

Six adorable white lion cubs – born to two different mothers – help form the world’s largest pride of this striking species in captivity. The cubs take the number of white lions at West Midland Safari Park in Worcestershire to 19.

The park’s white lion collection has grown from four animals who were introduced in 2004.

The lions are not albino but are a rare mutation of lion found in a 200-square-mile area called Timbavati, in South Africa’s bush country.

According to African folklore, once every hundred years, magical white lions will be born bringing joy to those who witness them.

Source: Mail online

Today's awwww

A trio of white lion cubs born last month at the zoo in the German town of Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock. Two rare white lionesses gave birth simultaneously to seven cubs at the zoo.



Source: Daily Mail

Incredible sand sculptures

The Daily Mail has a feature on the sand sculpture festival in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. Twelve experts in the medium are turning 360 tonnes of sand into iconic images. My favorite is the sleeping lion.

Tiki Totem

I think my patio needs one of these!



Jungle King Tiki
By Chris Magnotta
height: 32"
width: 12"

$180 at Tiki Hedz - Tiki Totem Poles

A Legendary Hunter

Between 1907 and 1938, Jim Corbett killed a dozen large cats who were collectively blamed for more than 1,500 human deaths. While being hailed as India's most celebrated hunter of man-eaters, Corbett developed a vast respect for tigers and leopards. Years spent stalking intelligent and powerful predators through the forests convinced him that these were graceful creatures that deserved respect. Even these man-eaters held his respect, for he understood that they were merely adapting to their desperate circumstances. "The stress of circumstances is, in nine cases out of ten, wounds, and in the tenth case old age," Corbett once wrote, "Human beings are not the natural prey of tigers, and it is only when tigers have been incapacitated through wounds or old age that, in order to survive, they are compelled to take to a diet of human flesh." Indeed, Corbett admired the wild tiger as "a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage", and he urged India's people to rally for the conservation of "the finest of her fauna."

Read the rest of this fascinating biography at Damn Interesting.

Video: Extremely Rare Lion Baby Born

Raja, the rare Asiatic lion cub born at a Japanese zoo is one of only about 300 left in the world.

Link to video

Animals on the attack

*****A martial arts teacher knocked over by a lion during a photo shoot at Bowmanville Zoo says she is happy to have come away with four broken ribs and a bloodied lung.

The photo session produced a successful cover photo, but from the beginning, the lion was playful and not entirely under the control of its two minders. Watch video.
(thestar.com)

***** A keeper at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C, was taken to a hospital and treated for a laceration on her leg after Tai Shan, the zoo's giant panda cub, made "physical contact" with her. It seems the panda had amorous intentions - the keeper was not in the mood. (via)
(Washington Post)

***** An eagle ray leaped onto a boat off the Florida Keys and stabbed a woman with its barb, knocking her to the deck and killing her. The animal's barb had impaled the woman through the neck which caused her to fall back and hit her head on some portion of the boat.
(New Zealand Herald)

***** Chicago car dealers report they've seen a lot more vehicles damaged this year by animals getting under hoods and chewing on wiring. The culprits are typically squirrels, rats or mice. Whether they're taking shelter from the cold or chewing out of hunger, they can cause thousands of dollars in damages.
(Sun-Times)

***** Rats are invading Thailand - or at least the offices of the ministry responsible for promoting health and hygiene. In the past two days, nearly 50 rats were caught inside the Health Ministry compound in Bangkok, prompting an announcement of a national anti-rodent campaign. The animals have become a nuisance. They bite wires, cables, documents and destroy office equipment.
(AP)

***** Four steer who escaped from a transport truck during a morning accident made their way to a residential area in Mississauga, Ont. and held the community hostage for nearly four hours.

One steer was eventually shot after it knocked a couple of residents off their feet and charged a police officer.
(ctv.ca)

The most expensive lion (and statue) in the world

A tiny limestone figure of a lion from ancient Mesopotamia has sold at a Sotheby's auction for $57m, almost double the previous record price for a sculpture.

The 3.25in tall Guennol Lioness is thought to have been carved 5,000 years ago in what is now Iraq and Iran.

The lion, whose new owner has not been identified, had been on loan to the Brooklyn Museum of Art for 59 years.

The previous record for a sculpture was set last month when Pablo Picasso's Tete de Femme was sold for $29m.

Video: Amazing Hug

(via)

Beautiful White Lion

The Latin name of Panthera leo krugeri is not limited to white lions. It applies to all South African lion subspecies; the prides of which are mostly located in Kruger National Park and nearby game reserves.

White lions are not albino as they have pigmentation which shows particularly in eye, paw pad and lip colour. The correct term for their condition is leucism, a state where there is near-normal eye colour, but loss of pigment in the skin and fur.

The cause of the unusual colouration is the same as for the white tiger. A recessive gene which results in the white appearance is found in a very small number of captive lions.

White specimens usually have a yellowish-brown or golden eye color which is very similar to their tawny cousins, though some have bluish coloring like the white tiger.

Swiss zoo kills endangered lion cubs

A Swiss zoo has provoked public dismay by culling two endangered Namibian lion cubs because it did not have space for them.

In June, Basel Zoo proudly announced that a five-year-old lioness, imported from Namibia, had given birth to four cubs; three males and one female. However, last week the zoo decided to put two of the male cubs to sleep and feed their carcasses to other animals. It explained that the lion enclosure was not big enough for them and said it could not find another zoo to adopt them.

The lions in Basel Zoo are on the World Conservation Union's red list of endangered species because hunting has reduced their population in Namibia to a few hundred.

Four white lions born in French zoo

Four white lions were born in a zoo in western France, providing a welcome boost for the species whose population is teetering at about 30 worldwide, a zoo official said Wednesday.

The male and three female cubs, white as snow and weighing about 1.5 kilos (3.3 pounds), were separated from their mother at birth because she appeared to lack parenting skills.

White lioness

"Ashanti", the first white lioness to be born in Italy. Along with its parents, Ashanti is one of the three white lions living in Italy, all in captivity.

(Photo: AP Photo/Safari Park-Pombia)

White lion kits

Two 45-day-old white lion cubs play inside a zoo in China's
Heilongjiang Province March 8, 2007.

The cubs will be released back into the wild.