White Tigers And Its Underlying Facts

White tigers are Bengal tigers whose fur is white or almost white. These species are neither albino nor a separate subspecies of the tiger. Rather, they are just Bengal tigers which have inherited two copies of recessive gene controlling skin pigmentation. They are often being described as beautiful creatures with pale fur, blue eyes, pink nose and black stripes. These black stripes make them identical to orange Bengal tigers and distinguish them from albino tigers which are 100% white with no stripes.

According to its history, in May 1951, Maharajah Shri Martand Singh was hunting in the jungles of Bandhavgarh which is located in India. From there, there had been reports that a tigress had been sighted with four cubs, and one of which was white. This white tiger which was captured as a cub by Maharajah was named Mohan. Mohan was the last recorded white tiger born in the wild.

Physical Description of White Bengal Tigers

White tigers are large cats which have distinctly pink nose, blue eyes, and white or creamy colored fur.
They unusual tigers are often much bigger than those orange Bengal tigers.
These white colored tigers, specifically the male ones, can grow up to three meters in length and weigh up to 200-230 kilograms. Whereas, the females can grow up to 2.5 meters long 130-170 kilograms in weight.
They have stripes all over their bodies and no two stripes are the same.
Their stripes are not only in the tigers' fur but are a pigmentation of the skin.
Also, they have white spots on the back of their ears that look like eyes.

Facts and information of White Tigers

Those in the wild tend to live about 10 to 15 years while those in zoos usually live between 16 to 20 years.
They are known to be good swimmers but are very poor climbers.
They are born to be Bengal tigers which carry an unusual gene needed for white coloring.
They are larger in size than the orange ones.
They are sometimes referred to as snow tigers.
They may be slow runners, but they are stealthy enough to catch any prey in their sights.
They are rare types of tigers which are mostly found in captivity.

These white colored tigers are now disappearing nowadays. The main threats to tigers are poaching, habitat loss, and population fragmentation. For these reasons; this species of tigers are considered either extinct or practically extinct in the wild.

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