Pumba Private Game Reserve · Discover
History and Heritage
History of the White Lion
Pumba is home to a self-sustained, free-roaming pride of white and tawny lions. The reserve describes its current dominant male as a white lion.
Pumba’s history page describes the cultural significance of white lions in Shangaan beliefs. These traditions are presented as cultural beliefs, not guarantees of safety around wildlife.
Read Pumba’s white-lion historyHistory of the Land
Pumba’s history begins in the Eastern Cape’s Zuurveld, once occupied by Khoi pastoral people. The farm was surveyed in 1813 and granted to Piet Retief.
The official history recounts the region’s frontier conflicts and the establishment of Grahamstown as a military headquarters.
Explore the history of the land