How did White Lions disappear from the Timbavati?
After they were “discovered” by Europeans in the 1970s, White Lions were artificially removed from the wild to captive breeding and hunting operations. These captive operations as well as zoos specifically bred White Lions because of their rarity and exploited them for financial gain. Along with these removals, lion culling in the Kruger National Park (especially in the 1970s) and trophy hunting of pride male lions in the Timbavati have depleted the gene pool. This has contributed to the drastic decline in the frequency of occurrence of White Lions and ultimately a 12-year technical extinction in the wild.
