Rare images of the beautiful white lions

This albino bird has been accepted by the rest of the flock but some are rejected by their fellow sparrows

What's down there? Unfortunately their distinctive colouring makes them more prone to predation

Happily perching in a tree with its flock

This beautiful white lion family look as if they were born free to live in the wild.

But they are the first to be released from captivity to live in their natural habitat under a pioneering ?2 million conservation project.

Thirty years ago white lions indigenous to the Timbavarti region of South Africa were at risk of being decimated by poachers and were removed for their own protection.

They were kept in captivity, fed and cared for by keepers. To see a self-sustaining white lion family out in the wild was unheard of.

But the lions have now been reintroduced into their natural habitat and have learned to hunt for themselves and mate in the wild for the first time since the 1970s.

In the Western Cape's 130,000-acre Sanbona Wildlife Reserve the plan is to establish the world's only free-ranging and self-sustaining integrated pride of white and tawny lions.

"Since we released them they have being fending for themselves - it's fantastic," said Paul Vorster, wildlife manager at the reserve.

"The project is an astounding success, an unbelievable achievement.

"There was great concern as to how the lions, especially the females, would fit into their new environment.