Lifestyle Pets White Lion at China Zoo Turns Heads With Unique Mullet-Like Mane that He Styles Himself The Guangzhou Zoo in China reportedly said in a statement that humidity and the lion's own styling choices are behind the animal's eye-catching look By Alexandra Schonfeld Alexandra Schonfeld Alexandra Schonfeld is a features writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since April 2022. Her work previously appeared in Newsweek. People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 31, 2022 01:46PM EDT Photo: ViralPress A zoogoer in China recently photographed a white lion rocking a wild hairdo. According to Newsweek, a white lion from the Guangzhou Zoo in China has gone viral after a guest's photos of the animal circulated online after a May 28 visit. In the photos, the male lion has a mane that looks like a mullet hairstyle, featuring short bangs in the front and long voluminous pieces of fur falling down the back. The photos originated from a zoo visitor's Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) before spreading across the Internet, per Newsweek. James Cromwell Is Helping an Animal Group Build a Sanctuary to End Bear Bile Farming in Vietnam The Guangzhou Zoo denies it styles the white lion's amazing mane. According to Newsweek, the zoo told the Chinese news outlet Guangdong that the animal's hairstyle was "taken care of" by the lion himself and that keepers wouldn't "dare" try to manage the big cat's mane. In its statement to Guangdong, the zoo added that the lion's hairdo is accentuated by the humidity in the area. White lions are Southern African lions with a rare genetic mutation that affects the color of their fur. In April 2021, the Global White Lion Protection Trust shared that a pair of white lions named Alpha and Omega had been placed in their care after years of serving as "human playthings." Global White Lion Protection Trust is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and conserving white lions and reintroducing the animals to their natural habitat According to a release from the organization, Alpha and Omega were taken away from their mother at a young age by South Africa's cub petting industry, which charges tourists for the opportunity to handle and photograph captive big cat cubs. Elk Calf Found Alive by Firefighter in the Ashes of New Mexico Fire Once the animals became too large for cuddles, they were kept in an enclosure by their owner, who would take the lions out for daily walks with paying guests. Unfortunately, after starting these "walking with lions" tours, Alpha and Omega escaped their enclosure and killed a local farmworker. Despite being warned against continuing to do tourism work with the animals, tours continued. Alpha and Omega attacked again two years later, killing their owner while out on a walk. This second death put the lion sisters at risk of being surrendered to a captive lion breeding facility or euthanized. The two are now in the lifelong care of the Global White Lion Protection Trust, where they get to roam their natural habitat with minimal human interaction.