GUANGZHOU – A white lion living at the Guangzhou Zoo has recently become the talk of town after it was spotted rocking an unusual hairstyle — a choppy fringe spread across its forehead.
The white lion, which is also known as the Albino African Lion, is a rare subspecies of the Kruger Lion from Africa.
Based on the viral photo, the lion, whose name is Hang Hang, was born in 2009 and was sent to the Guangzhou Zoo in 2015.
What kind of haircut is this?
Photos of the lion were first released on Sunday (May 29), where a Weibo user uploaded several photos of the lion with its fringe, leading many to think that the zookeepers had given it a rather fashionable haircut.
While most netizens were amused by the lion’s fringe, some expressed concern as they believed the haircut might cause the lion to develop an inferiority complex as it made it look less majestic.
Malaysians also joined into the fun, asking what kind of conditioner the lion had used to achieve such a smooth mane and wondered how it was more fashionable than they were.
Zoo staff: ‘We had no part in it’
In response to queries by a Guangdong media outlet, an employee at the zoo clarified that the staff would never dare to give a lion a haircut and that its mane was drooping due to humid weather in Guangzhou.
Hang Hang is as handsome and cute when he first arrived at the Guangzhou Zoo. His mane is absolutely natural, and there are no touch-ups.
“The shape of his bangs isn’t fixed, so sometimes it will be ‘styled up’ a little by Hang Hang himself,” it said.
A spokesperson from the zoo also pointed out that wildlife conservation was vital to the preservation of the ecosystem, especially when it comes to species such as Hang Hang’s, who are often hunted down for its rarity.
