動物園でホワイトライオン３頭誕生　ベネズエラ

【マラカイＡＦＰ＝時事】南米ベネズエラ・マラカイのラスデリシアス動物園で今週、同国では初めてとなるホワイトライオンの赤ちゃんが３頭生まれた。ホワイトライオンは野生では約１０頭しか生息していない。（写真は、ベネズエラ・マラカイのラスデリシアス動物園で生まれたホワイトライオンの赤ちゃん）
　赤ちゃんは雄が２頭、雌が１頭。繁殖プログラムのために昨年５月にチェコの動物園から来たカマタグアとセバスチャンの間に生まれた。
　園長によると、生存率を上げるため、３頭はすでに母親と引き離されており、人間の手によって育てられる。飼育下の雌ライオンは子どもを殺すことが多いことで知られる。
　ホワイトライオンの保護団体によると、ホワイトライオンはアルビノ（先天性色素欠乏症）ではなく南アフリカの特定の地域に生息する白変種。
　同団体によると、ホワイトライオンは各国で数百頭が飼育されているが、南アフリカにいる野生の個体数は１３頭以下だという。
　ベネズエラのホワイトライオンの数は、今回生まれた３頭を含めて６頭となった。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/12/01-17:42）

A Venezuelan zoo this week welcomed the country's first three white lion cubs born in captivity, a boost for the genetically rare animal whose wild population numbers only about a dozen living in their native South Africa.
The cubs were born this week to Camatagua and Sebastian, white lions brought to Venezuela in May last year from the Hodonin zoo in the Czech Republic as part of a breeding program.
They are the first white lions born in Venezuela. We have three cubs, two males and a female, said Anthony De Benedictis, director of the Las Delicias zoo in Maracay, Venezuela.
The cubs were taken from their mother to be hand raised to improve their chances of survival, said De Benedictis. Lionesses in captivity have been known to kill their offspring.
White lions are not albinos but a genetic rarity unique to a region of South Africa, according to the Global White Lion Protection Trust. The coloration is caused by a recessive gene similar to what causes blue eyes in humans.
The trust states on its website there are hundreds of white lions in captivity around the world, but fewer than 13 in the wild in their endemic habitat.
It added white lions are not listed as endangered because they are scientifically not classified as distinct from Panthera leo -- classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Taking care of the babies is a 24/7 job. They need to be fed around the clock with milk enriched with a special supplement.
We are all dedicated to their care, said Leonel Ovalle Moleiro, head of a team of three veterinarians and seven other carers tasked with the cubs' wellbeing.
We do night shifts, day shifts, we are... monitoring their weight gain, their food intake and of course the health of the cubs and their mother.
Ovalle Moleiro pointed to one of the male cubs as the sleepiest and most reticent to drink.
The female, however, devours the bottle... is hyperactive, constantly moving, he smiled.
Venezuela now has a total of six white lions.