Breathtaking shot of a rare white lion named Moya at Glen Garriff Conservation lion sanctuary in South Africa

The wildlife and humanitarian photographer, Simon Needham, has been capturing incredible shots of lions to show their beauty and imposing presence. By photographing white lions, he wanted to raise awareness about this endangered species and help support a worthy cause. Accounted as being technically extinct in the wild between 1992 and 2004 due to uncontrolled trading and trophy hunting, white lions were successfully reintroduced to their natural habitat since.

This rare color mutation of the lion is caused by a recessive trait called leucism, derived from a less-severe mutation in the same gene that causes albinism. But unlike albino animals that lack pigmentation, these rare genes in white lions produce lighter pigmentation. White lions have blue or gold eyes and males may have near-white, blonde or pale hair in their manes and on the ends of their tails.