Friday 14 October 2011











 

The white tiger (also known as the Bengal tiger) is about 3 meters long, and weighs approximately 180-285 kg (400-569 LB). It’s coat lies flatter than that of the Siberian tiger, the tawny color is richer and the stripes are darker. 

White tigers are white colored bengals, they are not albinos and they are not a separate subspecies of tigers.

They have blue eyes, a pink nose, and creamy white furr covered with chocolate colored stripes. White tigers are born to tigers that carry the unusual gene needed for white coloring. 
Wild white tigers are rare species.White tigers are born to Bengal tigers that carry an unusual gene needed for white coloring. The White Tiger is a good swimmer, but a very poor climber.

They may be slow runners, but they are stealthy enough to catch any prey in their sights. Because they are solitary animals, they mostly hunt at night.

The other four sub-species of tiger are Siberian, South China, Indochinese, and Sumataran. There are only approximately 5,000 to 7,400 tigers left in the wild.

It is belief that if you are born in the Chinese year of the tiger you are unusually lucky. Let’s hope that some of this luck rubs off on the white tiger before it’s too late. Let's try to protect and preserve their existence on earth.


Hybridisation in the wild:
It is extremely rare for any wild animal to breed with one from another species.

  For instance, in the wild the Grant's and Thompson's gazelle live together happily in mixed herds. The species are very alike and only experts are able to discern one from the other. Despite this there are no known instances of these gazelle interbreeding.

White tiger controversy:

The white tiger controversy among zoos is a small part ethics and a large part economics. For example, the tiger SSP has condemned breeding white tigers because of their mixed ancestry (most have been hybridized with other subspecies or are of unknown lineage) and because they serve no conservation purpose. Owners of white tigers say white tigers are popular exhibit animals and help increase zoo attendance and, at $60,000 each, revenues as well.

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