I HATE MY LIFE

While the white or golden tabby coloration of these animals may be pretty, what the zoos won't tell you is that, in reality, it's a deadly genetic mutation. They are not a subspecies, and are not albino.

Instead, the white coat and pretty pale eyes can be traced back to a single breeding founder named Mohan, captured in the jungles of India as a cub during the early 1950s. He was raised in captivity and eventually bred to another captive female in hopes of producing more white cubs. It didn't happen; all of Mohan's offspring were normal orange tigers.

But once those offspring reached sexual maturity, Mohan was bred to one of his own daughters. This time, the litter produced white offspring. It was now apparent that the only way to achieve the white coat was to inbreed, since the gene was double-recessive and could only be created if both parents had it.

Mohan eventually produced several more white cubs through further inbreeding, and many of those cubs were sent overseas as gifts to various zoos and safari parks. Many others were merely 'rented out' on what's known as a breeding loan, in order to perpetuate the genetic pigmentation defect in captive tiger populations elsewhere around the globe.

While there are reports of other 'strains' of the white gene coming from sources outside of the Mohan family line, none of them have been officially noted.

According to Dr. Ron Tilson, head of the Tiger Species Survival Plan, there is only a 1 in 10,000 chance of a white tiger being born in a natural mating between two wild tigers, meaning that Mohan was literally a miracle tiger. The chances of a second on being born naturally without any inbreeding involved is undoubtedly slim-to-none.

And even though a white tiger can result from a natural mating in nature, there are many reports of wild tiger mothers attempting to smother their white cubs to death. This is not uncommon of other animals, as well, and probably has something to do with the fact that abnormally-colored offspring generally don't survive as well as their siblings. Given the choice, a mother will favor her normally-pigmented cubs over the abnormal one. This maternal behavior is noted even today in zoos. The Singapore Zoo has taken to raising all of their white tiger cubs by hand for the first few months of their lives to ensure that the tigress will not kill or abandon them.

Other issues with white tigers come from the inbreeding itself. Many suffer from bone deformation, cleft palates, and curvature of the spine, as well as mental retardation and severe stereotyping behaviors.

Because of the medical issues white Bengal tigers faced, some zoos attempted to cross-breed them with Amur (Siberian) tigers to add 'fresh blood' to their family tree. This has led to the myth of the white Siberian tiger, but the white gene is still only connected to the Bengal bloodline. This means that there is literally no such things as a white purebred Siberian tiger.

Due to the amount of inbreeding and crossbreeding going on over the 'white tiger craze', Bengal tigers are now no longer able to participate in the United States' Tiger Species Survival Plan. This is bad news, especially now that Bengal tigers numbers have plummeted to an all-time low. Keeping the genetic integrity of captive populations SHOULD have been top priority for zoos, but the consequences were not realized until it grew too late. Studbook information is now required by accredited zoos to prevent cross-breeding and inbreeding of other species.

Nevertheless, some zoos still try to justify the breeding of white tigers. They claim that white tigers bring a larger crowd, and the money they generate goes back to conservation. But many people question the ethics of breeding these animals, given the fact that so many end up with health problems. Is it really moral to raise an animal for human entertainment if you know that it may live its life in constant pain?

There's also the fact that keeping a white tiger with health problems costs more than keeping a normal tiger without them. In addition, the money spent on care and husbandry would be better-spent on a tiger which is actually able to contribute to Survival Programs.

Dr. Daniel C. Laughlin, a zoologist and big cat expert, holds the same idea, stating, "...anyone involved in breeding and/or exhibiting white tigers is doing a great disservice to honest conservation and preservation efforts to save the five remaining and endangered subspecies of tigers barely clinging to survival in their rapidly-diminishing natural habitats."

The most effective way for you to help is by simply NOT supporting zoos or safari parks which breed white tigers. If the zoo is not AZA accredited and has a white tiger in their care, that's an instant red flag. Stay away from roadside zoos and don't support places which claim to be rescue centers unless they're registered non-profit organizations.

For more information on the white tiger inbreeding issue, visit The Felinist web page here: [link]

A very scientific and well-written report on the genetics of captive white tigers can also be viewed here: [link]

The image above was done with pen-and-ink and graphite, then processed in Photoshop. I have liscenced it under an a Creative Commons Copyright - you may use if for any purpose that does not include monetary gain.

Spread the word. Stop the exploitation.