White lions first came to pub­lic atten­tion in the 1970s. These royal ani­mals are not albi­nos. Their white color is cau­sed by a reces­sive gene. They reside in the South Afri­can Kru­ger Natio­nal Park and in Tim­ba­vati. Tmba­vati is a pri­vate game reserve with no fence boun­da­ries on the wes­tern bor­der of the Kru­ger Natio­nal Park. In 2008, the Glo­bal White Lion Pro­tec­tion Trust (GWLPT) suc­cess­fully rein­tro­du­ced a pack of white lions in Tim­ba­vati to pre­serve the white gene in the wild. Alt­hough not yet asses­sed by the World Con­ser­va­tion Union, IUCN, this spe­cies is con­s­i­de­red vul­ne­ra­ble accor­ding to the GWLPT.

The Seren­geti-Park is very proud of its large group of Sou­thern white rhi­nos and their off­spring! Since the ope­ning of the park in 1974, more than 40 hatch­lings have been born there, rom­ping over the wide areas and enchan­ting our visi­tors. White rhi­nos are the second lar­gest land mam­mals on earth. They reach a shoul­der height of up to 1.90 meters. Do you have any idea how heavy a rhino gets? Males weigh up to 3.6 tons!

The white tiger is a pig­men­ta­tion vari­ant of the Ben­gal tiger cau­sed by a lack of the red and yel­low pig­ments, pheo­me­lanin, that nor­mally pro­duce the orange color. They are not albi­nos because they have blue ins­tead of red eyes, and their fur is pig­men­ted in the form of black stri­pes. Both par­ents must carry the unu­sual reces­sive gene for white colo­ring, which only hap­pens natu­rally in about 1 in 10,000 births! Our white tigers live in a very large, green environ­ment. We are very gra­te­ful that we can give these rare ani­mals a home here in Seren­geti Park. There are only about 300 white tigers around the world! Expe­ri­ence one of the most beau­ti­ful spe­cies in the world and the pride of Seren­geti Park!