These heart-warming photos show an incredibly rare white lion cub playing in the wild.
A lion cub was photographed by wildlife photographer Lyle McCabe in Kruger National Park. The photos show the young lion cub playing with his siblings while its mother looks on.
Lyle said that the cub had inherited a leucitic gene from both parents, which resulted in it having a partial lack of pigment in its fur.
The 30-year-old said: “I was completely amazed by this sighting.”
We knew the cubs were born about a month before, but we had moved away from our location for tracking and driving off-road to ensure the safety of both the cubs and ourselves.
“We arrived at the spot and were waiting for about ten minutes when we saw movement in the bush, and out came the mom with a tawny baby in her mouth followed closely by the pale kid.”
“I’ve been overwhelmed by what I’ve seen.” “The other guides I work with feel a mixture of excitement and envy.”
Despite the cub‘s appearance, Lyle claims it was treated no differently from its siblings. But, it may face problems in the future.
Lyle added that he was moved by the experience.
He said: ‘We hope that all the cubs will survive past the critical two-year-old mark, which would increase their chances of survival greatly.’
“We hope to see many more sightings of this rare genetic change.”
“The road will be tough for all the cubs, but especially for this bright young one.”
He will not only make things harder for himself when tracking down prey in his white coat, but there is also the chance he could hinder his siblings’ odds of survival by giving their positions away, either at the lair sight or hunting alongside the others.
