This lion has been crowned a prince after nature lovers were blown away by his incredible mane.
Six-year-old white lion Moya was spotted at South Africa’s Glen Garriff Conservation lion sanctuary.
This majestic beast is not only beautiful but extremely rare. With only 35,000 wild lions in the world today, white lions are even more rare.
Many hunters see them as trophies and some South African hunting ranches are raising them for captive “canned hunts.”
Thankfully Moya is not one of these and will live out the rest of her life in peace alongside the other 76 lions in the sanctuary’s care.
British photographer Simon Needham, took these stunning images of Moya and shared them to help raise awareness of the animals’ plight.
“Moya’s stunning coat blew me away the first time I saw it,” he said as per The Sun newspaper.
“It was difficult to get close to him, but I had a few moments when he came close enough for me to get a few great shots as he walked his territory.
“When you are in the moment you don’t really get chance to appreciate the beauty of it all but obviously afterwards, I realized what lovely pictures we had.”
He was blown away by the response he got to Moya’s pictures after they went viral.
“I’m really happy to be part of bringing well deserved attention to a very worthy cause at GG Conservation Glen Garriff where they have 77 lions in their care,” he wrote in a follow up post.
It’s so sad that such a beautiful creature is hunted for no good reason other than to become a trophy for any hunter at the right price.
One day we’re not going to have these beautiful creatures to enjoy if we don’t respect our wildlife and understand these animals are not ours for the taking.
Please share to raise awareness and hope that one day these cruel hunts can be stopped.