Cute little guy, but I always cringe when I see pictures of new white tiger cubs. From a conservation/ethical standpoint, they're no good. White tigers are just normal, orange tigers with a mutant ...

1. "But mooom, I want to keep playing..."
Cute little guy, but I always cringe when I see pictures of new white tiger cubs. From a
conservation/ethical standpoint, they're no good. White tigers are just normal, orange tigers with a
mutant ...

2. Cute little guy, but I always cringe when I see pictures of new white tiger cubs. From a
conservation/ethical standpoint, they're no good. White tigers are just normal, orange tigers with a
mutant gene. They are occasionally born in the wild once every 10,000 births or so, but never survive to
adulthood because they can't hunt effectively without their orange camouflage. Unfortunately, the same
gene that causes the white coat also causes the optic nerve to be wired to the wrong side of the brain,
thus all white tigers are cross eyed, even if their eyes look normal. They also often suffer from club feet,
cleft palates, spinal deformities and defective organs. The white tigers you see in captivity, such as these,
are all related to an original Siberian / Bengal cross breeding, and inbred repeatedly to achieve the white
coat without waiting for the one in 10,000 "miracle cub". The inbreeding results in many defects, early
deaths, and still births. Of those surviving, most have such profound birth defects, such as immune
deficiency, scoliosis of the spine (distorted spine), cleft palates, mental impairments and grotesquely
crossed eyes that bulge from their skull. The white coat is a double recessive gene, so 3 out of 4 tigers
born through this inbreeding have normal coloring but suffer the same defects and are referred to in the
trade as “throw away tigers.” As such, they are often killed at birth because only the white tigers are the
big money makers. And, because none of these cats are purebred (they are all crosses between Bengal
tigers and Siberian tigers), they serve no conservation purpose. It's just not responsible animal
stewardship to deliberately allow the breeding of genetically defective animals, especially if you're doing
it just to make a profit (which many zoos do.) This is why the AZA strongly discourages the breeding of
white tigers, and most reputable zoos will not display them.
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