Coordinates: 51°44′58″N 0°01′18″W / 51.7495°N 0.0216°W / 51.7495; -0.0216

Broxbourne
Broxbourne  Broxbourne shown within Hertfordshire
Population	13,298
OS grid reference	TL365075
District	Broxbourne
Shire county	Hertfordshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BROXBOURNE
Postcode district	EN10
Dialling code	01992
Police	Hertfordshire
Fire	Hertfordshire
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	Broxbourne
List of places: UK • England • Hertfordshire

Broxbourne is a commuter town in the Broxbourne borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England with a population of 13,298 in 2001.^[1]

It is located 17.1 miles (27.5 km) north north-east of Charing Cross in London and about a mile (1.6 km) north of Wormley and south of Hoddesdon. The town is near to the River Lea which forms the boundary with Essex and is 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north of the M25 motorway. West of the town are Broxbourne Woods, a National Nature Reserve.^[2]

The Prime Meridian passes to the east of Broxbourne.

History[link]

Broxbourne grew up on the Great Cambridge Road, now known as the A10. A number of old houses and inns dating from the 16th to the 19th century still line the High Street (now the A1170).^[3] The Manor of Broxbourne is described in the Domesday Book, which mentions Broxbourne Mill. The manor was held in the time of Edward the Confessor by Stigand, the Archbishop of Canterbury, but had passed into Norman hands following the Conquest. King John granted the manor to the Knights Hospitallers until the Dissolution, when it passed to John Cock, after whose family Cock Lane is named.^[4]

The parish church of St Augustine was entirely rebuilt in the 15th century, although a 12th-century Purbeck marble font survives. The interior has a number of monuments and brasses dating from the 15th to the 19th century. The three stage tower has a belfry with a peal of eight bells, three of which are dated 1615.^[5]

The New River which passes through the centre of the town, was constructed in the early 17th century. Broxbourne railway station was built in 1840. A terra cotta works was opened soon afterwards^[6] by James Pulham and Son, who specialised in creating artificial rock garden features; some of their work survives in the gardens at Sandringham House and Buckingham Palace.^[7]

Local government[link]

St Augustine, Broxbourne with the New River in foreground

Broxbourne was a civil parish in the Ware Rural District from 1894 to 1935. In the latter year the more heavily populated eastern end of the parish was added to the Hoddesdon Urban District, while the rural western portion remained in Ware Rural District, forming part of the civil parish of Brickendon Liberty.

The former area of Hoddesdon Urban District merged with that of Cheshunt Urban District to form the Borough of Broxbourne in 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972.

Broxbourne now forms one of thirteen wards of the borough, returning three councillors.^[8]

Business[link]

The Borough of Broxbourne at Park Plaza, Waltham Cross is home to the world's largest printing plant, which produces publications for News International including The Sun, The Times and the News of the World. Employing 200 people on a 23-acre (93,000 m²) site to produce 86,000 newspapers per hour on each of its twelve printing presses (a total capacity of over 1,000,000 newspapers per hour),^[9] the plant cost £187 million (part of a £650m initiative including plants in Knowsley, near Liverpool, and Motherwell, near Glasgow) and replaced the News International press in Wapping.^[10]

Sport and leisure[link]

Broxbourne has two Non-League football clubs Broxbourne Borough V. & E. F.C. and London Lions F.C., who both play at Goffs lane.

2012 Summer Olympics[link]

As part of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, Spitalbrook was chosen as the venue for whitewater canoe and kayak slalom events. On 8 October 2007 the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced that due to contamination risks at the planned Spitalbrook site, an alternative site six miles (10 km) south was being investigated.^[11] Subsequently on 16 April 2008 it was announced that the venue would be built at nearby Waltham Cross and situated on what was (at the time of the relevant press release) the overflow car park for the showground at the River Lee Country Park.^[12] The venue was initially known as Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre and later officially named Lee Valley White Water Centre.^[13]

See also[link]

• Broxbourne railway station

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Broxbourne

National Zoo & Aquarium, Australia.

White Lion - Bratislava Zoo, Slovakia.

Adolescent white lion in Kruger National Park, South Africa.

White lion in Belgrade Zoo, Serbia.

The white lion is occasionally found in wildlife reserves in South Africa and is a rare colour mutation of the Kruger subspecies of lion (Panthera leo krugeri). It has been perpetuated by selective breeding in zoos around the world. White lions are not yet a separate subspecies and they have been said to be indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest recorded sighting in this region was 1938. Regarded as divine by locals,^[1] white lions first came to public attention in the 1970s in Chris McBride's book The White Lions of Timbavati. Up until 2009, when the first pride of white lions was reintroduced to the wild, it was widely believed that the white lion could not survive in the wild. It is for this reason that, now, a large part of the population of white lions are in zoos. Another large part, however, are bred in camps, for canned hunting trophies.

It is hard to determine exactly how many white lions there are today, because they are held in captive breeding and hunting operations which don't keep adequate records. Based on available evidence, The Global White Lion Protection Trust estimate there are 500 White Lions world-wide.^[2]

White lions are not albinos. Their white colour is caused by a recessive gene known as the chutiya or color inhibitor gene, distinct from the albinism gene. They vary from blonde through near-white. This coloration, however, does not appear to disadvantage their survival. The white lions of the Global White Lion Protection Trust (GWLPT) have been reintroduced into their natural habitat and have been hunting and breeding successfully without human intervention for a significant amount of time. White lions in South Africa are currently being bred almost exclusively for hunting, but Linda Tucker (the founder of GWLP] and author of The Mystery of the White Lions) and her team are trying to change the South African hunting laws.^{[clarification needed]}

Breeding white lions[link]

The chinchilla mutation, a recessive gene, gives white lions their unusual colors. A similar gene also produces white tigers. White lions can therefore be selectively bred for zoos, animal shows and wildlife park. Such breeding involves inbreeding of close relatives and can result in inbreeding depression (genetic defects, reduced fertility, and physical defects) although this has not yet been recorded in white lions in zoos as it has been in white tigers. According to Tucker, white lions in canned hunt camps have been found to have hind-limb paralysis and serious heart defects, indicating a severe level of inbreeding involved in mass-production although they are rare in the wild. People are concerned about the White Lions mating with other lions of other alleles, because of possible extinction of the white lion. However, this is not valid as the offspring will inherit the white gene and therefore make it possible to produce white offspring in a later generation. Some critics maintain that white lions should not be introduced in to the wild because of the inbreeding that has taken place over zoos and breeding camps. However, ethical reintroduction programs such as The Global White Lion Protection Trust have ensured through the use of scientific methodologies that the lions in their program are not inbred.

White Lion cub at Kromdraai, South Africa

Kruger and Umfolozi white lions[link]

In 1979, three litters containing white lions were recorded in Kruger National Park. In March, a female lion with three white cubs was observed near Tshokwane. In September, three white cubs (from two different lionesses) were seen. Another litter of white female cubs was captured from Kruger National Park and treated for sarcoptic mange. A white lion was observed in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve in Zululand.

White lions of unknown ancestry[link]

• A white lion breeding program is currently underway at Inkwenkwezi Private Game Reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape province.
• Four white lion cubs were born at the Papanack Park Zoo outside Ottawa, but did not resub-adults have since been released into the main reserve with the other tawny lions. Queen has since given birth to a further 3 white lion cubs. Continuous monitoring by the Wildlife Department at Sanbona has ensured their white lions are still wild, well, and free.

Jurques Zoo in France[link]

In May 2007 four white lion cubs were born at Jurques Zoo in France. The cubs consisted of one male and three females. Each cub weighed approximately 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) at birth, and all four were in good health. However, they needed to be hand fed because their mother was not taking proper care of them.

Belgrade Zoo in Serbia[link]

Belgrade zoo in Serbia has 12 white lions. In 2010 four were born by two female lions, each of weight about 1.5kg (3.3 pounds).^[3] Four new white lions were born in April 2011.^[4] The zoo was awarded in 2009 for its professional care for animals.

West Midland Safari Park[link]

In 2004 West Midland Safari Park had 4 white lions arrive at the park the only white lions in the UK and they settled into the Kingdom of the White Lion exhibit at the park very well, 4 years later one lioness had 4 cubs in the space of 9 hours, Doubling the total of the 4 to 8 in the UK. The pride at the Park in Worcestershire are they only pride of white lion in the UK and are breeding very well.

Genetics[link]

White lions are not albinos but are leucistic. They have pigment visible in the eyes (which may be the normal hazel or golden color, blue-gray, or green-gray), paw pads and lips. Blue-eyed white lions exist and may be selectively bred. The leucistic trait is due to the chinchilla mutation that inhibits the deposition of pigment along the hair shaft, restricting it to the tips. The less pigment there is along the hair shaft, the paler the lion. As a result "white" lions range from blonde through to near white. The males have pale manes and tail tips instead of the usual dark tawny or black. The Latin name of Panthera leo krugeri is not limited to white lions. It applies to all South African lion subspecies; the prides of which are mostly located in Kruger National Park and nearby game reserves.

White specimens usually have a yellowish-brown or golden eye color which is very similar to their tawny cousins, though some have bluish coloring like the white tiger.

Belgrade Zoo has become known as a center of natural reproduction of white lions. The first specimen arrived in 2005 and Belgrade became the first zoo in Europe to have the rare animals.^{[citation needed]}

Six years later, the "Garden of Good Hope," boasts that in his area currently has ten white lions.^{[citation needed]}

In the wild within their natural endemic range[link]

In 2003, the Global White Lion Protection Trust (WLT) initiated the first ever reintroduction of white lions to their natural endemic range - the Greater Timbavati region in South Africa. Preliminary results have shown that the hunting success of the white lion pride was comparable to or higher than the wild prides ('normal' coloured / tawny) of the Timbavati itself (Turner 2005, Turner in prep.). This pride of "all" white lions has shattered the misperception that white lions cannot hunt successfully (within their natural endemic habitat) due to a perceived lack of camouflage. The long-term objective of the WLT is to restore the natural balance by reintroducing an integrated pride/s of white and tawny lions within their endemic range. White lions are a unique contribution to the biodiversity of the region and are revered by the local communities that hold them sacred.^[5]

See also[link]

• Kimba the White Lion

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: White lions

• Global White Lion Protection Trust
• West Midland Safari Park - Kingdom Of The White Lions
• Volunteer Work with White Lions South Africa
• Article regarding the reintroduction of White Lions
• White Lions - History, Mythology and Geneticshe:עברית