When I thought about this post (in Sunday Stills) and decided on this photograph of White tiger, I did some research. As per my understanding, white tigers where a different species and a very rare natural one. I found the facts about White tigers quite interesting and worth sharing.
White tigers are a pigmentation variant of Bengal Tiger, caused by a double recessive gene occurring so rarely in nature.
Only one out of every 10,000 Bengal tigers has the chance of being a natural White tiger.
Most of the White tigers we see in the zoos are the results of inbreeding and cross-breeding, which is considered as more weighed on economical value than conservation-al ethics. By saying that,I must add that so much abuse of the animal is involved in producing them.
Inbreeding – breeding siblings with each other or parents with children causes a multitude of health defects; 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 that only a small percentage are suitable for display. Due to these birth defects the white tigers often die an early death.
White tigers are one of the rare cats in the wild probably due to its lack of camouflaging ability. They survive mostly in captivity. But the conservation of White tigers in Zoos are of 20% conservation and 80% monetary. They are inbred to generate more revenue rather than pure conservation ethics.
The abuse and cruelty involved in producing and disposing the white tigers, in order to fill the public desire to see white tigers on display is – Barbaric!! and the numbers are – Staggering!!
White tigers are definitely rare and I would like to see it stay rare rather than just sickly everywhere, as a result of such cruelty and in-human attitude towards animals.
More informations can be found here – Big Cat Rescue; Wikipedia; Deccan Chronicle; Animal Time; Advocacy Britannica
Beautiful photograph. I did not know that about specifically breeding for white tigers. Very sad. Thanks for sharing.
It is indeed! 🙁
Heart breaking. As so much of our interaction with the natural world is. Thank you.
Yes. It doesn’t stop here..
Inbreeding is never good. Lovely photo – yet sad too.
You find the most exotic subject matter. Thanks for sharing what you learned about these gorgeous creatures. Why……
This is a great addition to your collection of posts. Liked the frame 🙂
Quite informative narration and good to read a little about white tiger!
Cheers
Perfect shot for this challenge..:-)
Thanks Ed
Yet another unique take on challenge…..sad but worth reading about them.
The blog has been refined a lot and cheers to you for the fine tuning. Great job keep it high always 🙂
Thank you all for your kind words.
Striking photographs, Nivin! And the two videos are a real eye-opener. Thank you so much for sharing these.
Thanks Uday.
beautiful picture bro,,,great for the subject and thanks for sharing those information.
Excellent post my friend 🙂
gorgeous 🙂