White Tiger Breeding is Not Conservation
73Tigers
The Tiger is under severe threat through loss of habitat and poaching to supply an illicit trade in animal parts.
We are lucky in that there are six Tiger sub-species still surviving. These are the Bengal Tiger Panthera tigris tigris, the Amur Tiger Panthera tigris altaica, the South China Tiger Panthera tigris amoyensis, the Indochinese Tiger Panthera tigris corbetti, the Sumatran Tiger Panthera tigris sumatrae and the Malayan Tiger Panthera tigris jacksoni.
Sadly, very sadly, in my lifetime we have lost the Javan Tiger Panthera tigris sondaica, the Bali Tiger Panthera tigris balica and the Caspian Tiger Panthera tigris virgata.
None of these Tigers is a WHITE species. There is NO species or sub-species of white tiger!
Today people. through zoo education and TV documentaries are much more of aware of the threats that Tigers are facing and more is being done to protect them in the wild. The South China Tiger is just hanging on in the wild and with luck may well be saved.
Zoos today offer the tigers best hope with excellent scientifically managed breeding programmes. These will ensure that we have captive animals for many years to come.
White Tiger Profile
The White Tiger
White Tigers are NOT rare! White Tigers are NOT endangered! White Tigers are NOT a species! They are not even a sub-species! White Tigers have no conservation value.
The White Tiger is a mutant, a freak of nature, an aberration of the Bengal Tiger Panthera tigris tigris. They do occur in the wild, but only rarely. There are a number of records of animals being hunted and shot over the past one hundred years or so. Left to their own in the wild they could possibly survive but they would be disadvantaged by their colour. Their prey would see them coming!
There are no White Tigers in the wild today. The captive White Tiger population has been deliberately 'manufactured' by man. There is a huge population consisting of hundreds of unmanaged White Tigers in Texas and China alone.
White Tiger
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Conservation
Keeping animals in captivity today revolves around Breeding Programmes and Conservation. It is a long term project involving co-operation between reputable 'good' zoos, the world over. The aim is to have strong, genetically viable populations for release into the wild at some point in the future.
This can NEVER happen with White Tigers. White Tigers ancestry has been now so messed about with that they can almost be considered a 'domestic' breed. White Tigers are now sub specific hybrids and carry a host of genetic defects. They cannot be released to the wild.
No responsible zoo, no zoo that is concerned about conservation should be breeding White Tigers. The space taken up by White Tigers in captivity could be utilised for keeping and breeding other Tiger species which are in desperate need.
Breeding White Tigers is NOT clever. It is irresonsible, it is harmful to other tiger species.
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Comments
Thank you for your comments Caitlin but you are wrong. I appreciate that you may like white tigers...I do too. They are (when they are not suffering from the multiple problems caused by pointless inbreeding) quite beautiful. I stand by my words though. They are NOT rare, NOT endangered and NOT a species. I will grant you that all white tigers are Bengal Tigers but that does the white ones a species in their own right as the uninformed claim.
As someone who has worked with Tigers for 40 years I have more right than many to state the truth.
I would like to say thank you to you Peter. So many articles and information has be passed around saying how rare these species are (not helped by TV programmes!) I am studying a degree in animal behaviour and my whole class understands that these are not a endangered species! and its nice to read something that follows our same thoughts. Even recently in a well known newspaper it was written how white and tabby tigers are so endangered. Its like calling a red pointer dog a whole different species to the black!
I feel the same regarding white lions, which again are an "endangered species"
Thank you again for writing this and I hope that it will help to educate many people about this. And specially about the plight of the true tiger
uhmmm .........................cool
This site is a leftis wacko baffoon site. All tigers are endangered including the white tiger. It IS a subspecies.
Hello werq - try reading the truth rather than propaganda. Point me towards the information which formulated your sad and incorrect (and impolite) opinion.
Thank you, Peter, finally someone posts the truth online. One of my biggest pet peeves are the uneducated people who want to argue that they are in fact rare. I tell people this all of the time while working with tigers in the zoo/sanctuary field. White tigers are taking up valuable habitat space in AZA (and worldwide) zoos and should not be exhibited as "endangered." Thank you Sigfried and Roy. The same with the white lions, tabby tigers and snow tigers. So sad...
I have "shared" on Facebook and enjoy your travel/zoo stories on Zoonewsdigest.
Keep up the good work.
Bandy - Thanks. We really need to get 'zoos' to appreciate the facts...then we can educate the public.
Peter is absolutely correct. White tigers are a man made creation. They are not an actual true species becaues they do not occur naturally in the wild. They are the product of severe inbreeding between father and daughter or grandfather and granddaughter tigers in order to produce a double recessive white-gene. Most white tigers are born with physical and/or mental problems. The abuse needs to stop. I refuse to visit zoos have white tigers. It is morally and ethically wrong for such an inhumane thing to take place all for more revenue. I'm actually presenting a speech in class today about white tigers in order to raise awareness and to try and persuade my fellow classmates to not visit zoos that contain white tigers. Hopefully this helps, even if it's just a tiny bit.
Thanks Rachel. Good luck with your class speech. Give your audience the link to this hub page. It may help.
Yes I wish more people would understand this about white tigers. I just got a job at our local zoo and I am proud to say we are against the breeding of white tigers. I am in school currently doing a zoo science/biology degree and hope to one day spread the word about true conservation. I wish I knew how to get the work out now regarding white tigers though...
Rachel, White tigers aren't really a man made creation because they didn't start from genetic engineering. they started way before the inbreeding of trying to make more of them. This is the part where you're wrong. Also, I wouldn't say they don't occur naturally in the wild, I'd rather say they occur RARELY in the wild. Because in the wild it's more like a chance of 2 ORANGE bengal tigers not related having the recessive gene, that's why I would say rarely. The gene is said to be calculated to occur once in every 10,000 births, and like all animals there's a chance of having a gene mutation or missing a gene. Like white alligators occur because they don't have the gene for melanin to cause pigmentation. Yes, the white tiger is not rare, not a specie (because they're just bengal tigers with a pigmentation problem), and not endangered. It's just mainly a color variation produced by the recessive gene and also gives the tiger pink noses/paws, and blue eyes.
This is very interesting. I appreciate you explaining that the White Tiger is not a subspecies but a genetic "mishap". You've made the world more informed today. Thanks. I enjoyed reading this.
Interesting. Though I know a fair bit about biology, I admit to be rather uninformed about tigers. I wish all or any of you would note some reputable sources for those of us who would like more information about this topic.
I read Ben Mee's book called We Bought A Zoo. He says that all tigers are really endangerred and he said that tigers have special sensers in their teeth to help them catch their prey. He knows how special tigers are which is why he owns a zoo and you dont
Amy - I have not a clue what a 'senser' is. White Tigers are not endangered (did you read this hub?). Mr Mee owns a zoo because he had money to buy one. He had to hire staff who knew about animals to work for him because he knew nothing. He had a steep learning curve and probably knows quite a bit now. You are really clever to read a book. Please now read more.
Regarding Ben Mee.
Ben Bought a zoo knowing nothing about animals with his family, if you read the book then you will know this, I am a keeper in the UK and know personally some of the keepers at Bens zoo, Dartmoor wildlife park, people should really know what they are talking about before ranting !
Peter, never a truer word said, I agree whole hartedly, I am also a big cat keeper and i also worry about the places that breed Ligers and Tigons !
natrual selection has thrown out some stunning creatures! why can't we just concentrate on maintaining natures biodiversity rather than creating new ones for show or ego?
They are beautiful though! I wonder if I could rent one for my wedding?...that would keep the guest list down!
Hello Peter,
This is a brilliant article. There are so many zoo-based TV programmes on at the moment and all of them seem to perpetuate the belief that white tigers are a separate species. Certainly they are beautiful animals but there is absolutely no point in breeding them for conservation purposes - it is a shame the readers of your article on Craig Busch couldn't be bothered to read it properly and see that this was one of the points you were trying to make!
Thanks Sarah - I doubt that many, if any, of those who commented negatively on the Craig article actually read it or this or anything. They are hypnotised by the guy and are unable to differentiate between the man on TV and the man in real life.
Agreed - a friend of mine recently commented that she enjoyed watching lion man. I told her about your article and she was completely shocked - just shows what a convincing facade he has built.
Caitlin says:
8 months ago
1st of all white tigers are rare 2nd of all they are endangered and 3rd of all they are a species!!!! i should know because i did a book report on them when i was 9 and i remember taking out about 15 books about both tigers and white BENGALED tigers... So u have no right to say they aren't endangered,rare, and species!!!!! D=<