White lions set to be released into wild
Karen-Jane Dudley from the Isle of Wight has launched an appeal in a bid to to raise money to enable the tracking of 5 rare white lions which are set to be released into the wild. She is trying to raise £1,000 for the Global White Lions Trust in South Africa.
The trust wants to fit the 2 adults and 3 cubs with radio collars before they are released in 2 months.
White lions are a rare mutation of lion found in Timbavati, South Africa, where the charity will be releasing them.
According to African folklore, magical white lions are born every 100 years to bring joy to those who witness them.
According to the trust, there are only about 300 white lions remaining in the world.
It has purchased its own land within the white lions’ ancestral homelands of Timbavati since private reserves there still hunt lions as trophies.
White lions are thought to have become extinct in the wild in 1994 and the Global White Lions Trust began reintroducing them into the wild in 2006.
Ms Dudley said: “With the mortality rate for lions in the wild at 80% – only 20% survive to adulthood – the lives of this royal pride could depend on this radio tracking equipment.
“The money raised… will be vital to allow us to know where they are and keep them as safe as possible. The team will sleep a lot easier knowing the young pride can be monitored day and night thanks to this equipment.”
Ms Dudley is also holding a photographic exhibition of her work with the lions to raise money for the Global White Lions Trust.
It will will be on at Dimbola Lodge Museum in Freshwater Bay, on the Isle of Wight, until 1 March.