The Other Side of White Tigers

The popular white tigers have been mesmerizing humans for centuries. White tigers are the Bengal tigers and not an albino nor a separate subspecies, as many people assume. When two Bengal tigers with recessive gene controlling coat color are bred together, the white tiger is born.

The unique look is the result of recessive genetic mutation of both the parents that halts the production of red and yellow pigments, which means the fur grows white instead of the natural deep-orange color.

Facts about white tigers

A White Tiger

1. White tigers are the Bengal tigers born with white furs. They are neither a separate subspecies of Royal White Tigers or Snow Tigers nor the albinos.
2. The white fur of such Bengal tigers is a very rare genetic mutation which occurs in nature, possibly in as few as 1 in 10,000 wild tiger births.
3. The natural behavior of tigers prevents the necessary inbreeding methods to produce white cubs. Since the unique recessive color variant occurs very rarely, breeders often go for intentional inbreeding of brother to sister, cousin to cousin, and so on.
4. Sometimes, white Bengal tigers are crossed with Siberian tigers to get a larger breed which as a result causes even more genetic problems.
5. This kind of captive inbreeding of white tigers causes high neonatal mortality rates, exceeding over 80%.
6. Most of the tigers needed to inbreed several times to get the one perfect white cub, which the exhibitors can market to the public. Here we need to think about those cubs that aren’t “perfect”. What happens to them?
7. In order to get a perfect white cub, the average number of cubs born is 1 in 30. So, 29 tigers out of 30 born either with typical deformity, or considered as the wrong color and euthanized, or die soon after birth due to genetic flaws.
8. White cubs were once being sold for about $50,000 each. Now the price has dropped drastically as the breeders have produced many of them.