White Tigers

White tigers may have been a subject of fascination for people across the world for several years, but not many of these people know that these tigers are not a different subspecies - but are, in fact, the same orange tigers who derive the pale white color owing to a recessive gene.

White Tigers: Genetic Information

The pale white coloration of the white tiger can be attributed to a recessive gene. These tigers are neither a different subspecies of the cat family, nor are they albinos (i.e. organisms with congenital albinism). They are born to orange tigers, and they can even breed with them. If a white and orange tiger mate, there are fifty-fifty chances that the resulting offspring will depict the characteristic traits of the orange tiger and not the white one. However, if two white tigers breed the resulting offspring will undoubtedly sport a white coat. The chance of the resulting offspring being white is also significant if the parent tiger is orange heterozygous tiger.

In all other cases, the chances are quite less, and this explains why the number of white tigers has decreased drastically. These tigers are larger in size than the orange tigers, and that is an adaptation which gives them an edge in the wild where their unusual coloration can turn out to be a major drawback. Similarly, an orange offspring born as the result of breeding between white and orange tiger is relatively larger than a normal orange offspring.

Endangered White Tigers

As these tigers are same as the normal tigers, their habitat is no different from a normal tiger habitat. In the wild, they tigers have already become extinct, with only 12 sightings over the last 100 years. At present, they are only seen in captivity across the world. Most of these tigers are either white Bengal tigers or hybrids of Bengal-Siberian tigers. Though wildlife professionals believe that the Bengal tiger as well as Siberian tiger species can be white, some researchers believe that the white tigers. i.e. the white Bengal tigers, are only restricted to the Indian subcontinent. And most of the individuals which are assumed to be the white Siberian tigers are actually the crossbreeds of the white Bengal tiger and the orange Siberian tiger.

It is technically incorrect to refer to those individuals with recessive genes the white tigers, but that has been a popular belief all this while and it will take some time before it is correct. It is difficult to asses whether the recessive gene of these tigers has come in as a boon or bane for them. This gene does affect their health, however the same gene gives them the white color which makes them so popular. And those few individuals who are in captivity today are only there because of the popularity derived from unusual coloration. If it was not for this unique look, white tigers would have had become extinct by now, both in the wild and in captivity.