Rare white lioness put to sleep

One of the world's rarest animals, a white lioness called Nala, has died at a British wildlife park from a severe abnormality in her spine.

Nala, who was nearly two, died after vertebrae in her back nicked her spinal cord and caused paralysis in her hind quarters.

Vets could not help, and staff at the Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, were in tears at the decision to put her to sleep.

Nala had been brought to the zoo from South Africa with a mating lion, Thabo, and kept in quarantine for six months. The public was only able to see the breeding pair for the first time in March.

Zoo director Peter Sampson said: "It's tragic. Everyone was crying. She was such a lovely cat. There are highs and lows in our crusade for conservation and this was one of our lowest ever. But our job today is to start planning for Nala 2."

The zoo works with the Global White Lion Protection Trust in South Africa to preserve the species. There are no white lions in the wild and only a handful in zoos.