White lion, white tigers, snow tigers arrive at Jungle Island in Miami

7/25/2012

Jungle Island has created its largest exhibit yet featuring a white lion, two royal white tigers and two snow tigers. These rare and breathtaking creatures have a brand, new state-of-the-art home in the Jungle.
 
The cats’ new home features similar elements to the park’s existing Tiger/Liger exhibit. Visitors will be able to walk right up to the glass and get an up-close view of these one-of-a-kind animals.
 
The white lion is not an albino but rather a rare color mutation caused by a recessive gene known as the color inhibitor gene. Their color ranges from blonde to near white and are some of the most stunning creatures in the world. They are also extremely rare and it is believed that only 300 remain in the world.

White tigers have a certain genetic condition that eliminates the orange color in their skin, which is seen in other tigers. Apart from the absence of the orange color, some white tigers have very pale stripes, which are hardly visible. Such white tigers without the stripes are called 'snow white' tigers.
 
The new cats join the Jungle’s already diverse animal family which includes a set of orangutan twins, a liger and a cassowary. The debate now becomes who is the king of the Jungle, the lion or the liger.