My daughter and I had a Magical Easter Adventure at Enchanted Kingdom last Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010 where we get to have a close encounter with a live white lion, Zoori.
Zoori is barely a year old and lives at the Residence Inn at Tagaytay since he was a cub so he is very tame and is used to people already. He was at Enchanted Kingdom to meet us for the blessing of the Zoori’s Advenure, an interactive museum for kids where guest can have an interactive encounter with the mechanical white lions in different chambers of the museum.
My daughter and I was able to pet Zoori for a bit and had a photo opp with him! Zoori is such a sweet white lion, I called it the way I call my pet cat “mimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing” and it looked right at me and I took a nice shot!
Isn’t he so adorable! I wanna hug him and take him home! He is like a giant kitty cat!
Zoori’s care taker told us not to touch Zoori while taking a photo with him so he will not look back at us. But daughter wanted to touch him so if you notice I restrained her hand a bit. Not touching him is for photo quality’s sake and not because he will bite or claw you.
You can have a close encounter with a white lion too if you visit Enchanted Kingdom now as Zoori will be staying there for as long as you want him there.
Zoori’s adventure is a partnership of EK with the Yupangco group that brought Zoobic Safari and Residence Inn.
Facts about White Lions
1. White Lions are a rare specie and can only be found in the Timbavati region. It is a genetic rarity and the light discoloration of their fur cannot be liken to albinism.
2. The cause of their discoloration of the white lion is still unidentified.
3. The White Lions belong to the Panthera leo.
4. “The earliest recorded sighting of white lions in the Timbavati region was in 1938. However, the oral records of African elders indicate that these unique animals survived in this region for many centuries”.
5. “Since their discovery by the West, white lions and those lions carrying the unique gene have been hunted, and forcibly removed from their natural endemic habitat.”
6. “The last white lion was seen in the wild in 1994, after which time they were technically extinct in the wild.”
7. “Currently, there is no law nationally or internationally that protects the White Lions from extinction.”
(source: Global White Lion Protection Trust)
Zoori’s Adventure Launch Photos:
8 Comments
Hi Riu, well exactly as you said what you haven’t experienced won’t hurt you. I understand what you mean and all the animal rights activist out there. But are you all out in the wild or can you be out in the wild all the time to “protect” these animals? I don’t think so. We really don’t have anything to argue about.
I also was not in EK to witness Zoori, but do you think you really know if Zoori is happy? Have you spoken to him/her? Well, of course, this lion has never been to the wild, what you don’t know won’t hurt you. He doesn’t know what he is missing. But think it this way, didn’t Tarzan search for his beginnings when he grew up and felt that something is missing. Lions are born with big muscles for high activity, thick skin and fur to adapt with the wild, strong and sharp teeth for hunting. Do we really humans think that we can just do what we please, without thinking that we are depriving this animal his/her right? Have we forgotten the centuries of different wars for the only purpose of FREEDOM.
Hi Earth!
Got my prize already, Eastwood movie pass! Thanks!
I am still waiting for the free spirited perfume 🙂
.-= kayth´s last blog ..Philippine 2010 Election Guide =-.