White tigers

In the public eye, white tigers (or more correctly, chinchilla tigers) are perhaps the color which is most admired. The correct term for these tigers is chinchilla albinistic: blue eyed, lacking in phaeomelanin, pale-coated, but having a pattern.

These tigers grow faster and heavier than their orange counterparts and with their pale ice blue eyes, white fur with chocolate stripes, pink noses, and pink paw pads they are indeed a beautiful sight. Unfortunately, beauty brings a curse and with the white tiger that curse is one of extreme inbreeding. The beautiful white specimen shown at the top of this page displays some evidence of breeding depression in having crossed eyes.

Contents

1 What causes white tigers? 2 Breeding Depression 2.1 White Tiger History 2.2 Outbreeding 2.3 Opponents of white tiger breeding 3 Hybrid white tigers 4 Myths surrounding the white tiger 4.1 Some historic myths also surrounded the white tiger 5 External links

What causes white tigers?

A white tiger can only be born when both parents carry the unusual gene for white coloring. The double recessive allele in the genetic code only turns up naturally about once in every 10,000 births. For unexplained reasons it seems to occur only in the Bengal subspecies although an orange Amur Tiger is sometimes believed to have carried the gene to his Siberian/Bengal hybrid descendents.

Reports of white Amur or Siberian tigers have never been confirmed. Most likely these tigers are Bengal Tigers which have, at some point in time, been hybridized with the Amur subspecies, so polluting their genetic code.

Breeding Depression

Dating right back to the first successful captive white tiger breedings, a trend was created which resulted in closely related tigers being mated in deliberate attempts to produce the valuable white specimens.

At that time a Rewa white would sell for ten times the amount of an orange- colored tiger. Today, US$60,000 is not an unusual amount for a white specimen.

Breeding father to daughter, and brother to sister, had the desired effect in that plenty of white cubs were produced, but it took a dramatic toll on the offspring.

White Tiger History

Mohan (the first captive white tiger to be successfully bred) was mated with Radha, one of his daughters from his second litter with orange-colored tigress Begum. This produced four white cubs: Raja, Rani, Sukeshi, and Mohini.

Out of 48 subsequent white tiger litters, starting with those produced by Radha, 148 cubs were born. 105 of those cubs died without producing. 72 of these deaths arose from non-accidental causes.

Typical signs of inbreeding include crossed eyes, curvature of the spine, twisted necks and shortened tendons in the legs.

As inbreeding worsens, so the number of abortions, stillbirths, and unexplained infant mortalities rise. Cubs that do survive become prone to mysterious illness, while those that do survive to adulthood generally have a shorter life span than their more sturdy orange cousins.

These are all problems orange colored tigers do not normally experience, though inbreeding is rife amongst some small pockets of wild tigers and with both the captive and wild populations of the South Chinese tiger.

Outbreeding

The problems caused by inbreeding soon had zoos searching for another option and this led to the decision to outbreed whites with orange tigers. Zoos then planned to mate their offspring, hoping for more whites to appear.

This has proven reasonably successful in helping to overcome the previous problems. However, the situation is still far from perfect, and despite these changes in practice, breeding depression still frequently appears.

The temptation to breed white tigers to white tigers is very high. This is due to the high value of the offspring. Some black market tiger farms consider the orange cubs to be of such little value they will kill all offspring which are not white.

Opponents of white tiger breeding

There is only a small quantity of white tigers in existence and present numbers are put in the region of 500. With the inevitable inbreeding problems a debate continually rages over the wisdom of breeding this animal. White tigers, white lions, white peacocks, none are representative of their wild populations.

The Tiger Species Survival Programme has actively discouraged breeding white tigers because of their mixed ancestry. Most of these animals have been hybridized with members of other subspecies -- usually of an unknown lineage.

Other organizations object to white tigers both because of the lack of genetic diversity and because it serves no practical conservation purpose.

Some opponents state that white tiger breeding only inflates the stud book entries for zoos and provides a popular exhibit which helps increase attendance and revenue.

The US$1,600 per year spent feeding each of these tigers is effectively being outlaid on two hundred or so pretty freaks. However, it must be admitted that there is a plus to this in that the money earned can be put towards saving all tigers and the white specimens earn more than they cost in revenue from the visiting public.

Hybrid white tigers

White tigers are simply white-colored tigers and not a separate subspecies as many people think.

Occasionally you will hear people referring to white tigers from a subspecies other than the Bengal. These are mostly hybrids and may occur if a zoo chooses to mate a white Bengal with a tiger from another subspecies; this then produces a white hybrid tiger.

The studbook for the purebred white Bengal tiger counts only 43 animals, the rest seen are of unknown heritage, or they are hybrids.

Myths surrounding the white tiger

A common myth surrounding the white tiger is that they are from Siberia and their coat color camouflages them in snow. This is incorrect.

The truth is that white tigers come from India and of the approximately forty purebred white tigers in captivity most remain in that country.

Another common misconception is that white tigers are a subspecies of their own.

The white tiger is not a separate subspecies; it would perhaps be more accurate to call it an aberrant coloration or mutation. Because they are not a separate tiger type they are also not an 'endangered species'.

Perhaps the most common myth is that white tigers are albinos.

But without pigment they would also not have stripes, colored noses and paw pads, and lip mottling. Their skin would be milky and not striped. A little-known fact is that white tigers do not always have ice-blue eyes; they may be green or amber. Again, this requires pigment in the eyes that an albino would not have.

Some historic myths also surrounded the white tiger

• Native princes of northern India considered them as rarities and prize specimens were kept in private zoos.
• In the kingdom of Assam the belief existed that anyone sighting a white tiger would soon die. It's a myth that remains today.

External links

• White Tigers