This is Kenny, a captive bred or ‘bred by incest’, white tiger.
Most people are unaware that the ‘White Tiger’ which is claimed to be an endangered species is in fact a product not of Nature but a man-made concept otherwise known as captive-breeding or genetic manipulation. The White Tiger is actually a mutant and was first noted in the Bengal tiger where in the wild only 1 in 10,000 cubs are born white.
There is an 80% in-bred white tiger stillbirth rate and for the ones that do survive birth and live the majority have horrendous deformities such as immune deficiency, distorted spines, cleft palates, mental impairments and grotesquely crossed eyes that bulge from their skulls.
The tiger genus has 8 sub-species spread over Asia, 3 of which are already extinct. The white tiger is not one of these sub-species.
For every handsome white tiger being exploited to the tourist industry to bring in the money, there are anything from 60 to a few hundred “defective” white tigers hidden from the public eye due to their deformities.
Kenny, in the picture above, was born in 1999 and has a deformed nose and ’snaggle teeth’ giving him his heartrending appearance.
Even selective breeding does not always produce the expected outcome and not all are born white. For those that aren’t their fate is usually abandonment, killed, abused, tortured or sold to the Chinese medicine trade.
It is the public paying to see the white tigers that are the ones fueling this greed-driven market. If there is no demand then there is no need for supply.
For more on the exploitation of these tigers, take a look at this site www.tippedearclan.wordpress.com
5 comments so far
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2 Hannerr // Sep 8, 2009 at 12:22 am
It’s not exactly man-made. White tigers were found in the wild, some found were it snows – and there they are camoflauged. Giving them the upperhand against Orange tigers.
In other places (without snow and whiteness) the fact that white tigers would be seen by prey is not the only reason why they aren’t seen in the wild. If prey might see them, so do we! Poaching ruins the day, again, it seems.
Aslong as they ain’t inbred, these tigers can still be used to breed normal tigers – which are also endangered. Inbreeding should only be accidental, and inbred animals should really be castrated and used for education rather than repopulation. Inbreeding causes too much damage later, and there is enough genetic-individuals animals get them out of the endangered zone. If only we would stop poaching!
The more money these white tigers bring in, the more they can breed to help Conservation. Think about that. These animals bring in more people so why not breed them to get more people to help Bengal tigers? Could not this be a good marketing scheme for a very good cause?
3 Little Lioness // Sep 19, 2009 at 6:52 am
Hannerr: I don’t normally like to correct people, but I’m afraid that you’ve been mislead, like so many other people, into thinking that white tigers live in snowy regions, which (in theory) would give them the upper-hand. But to date, there have been no records of wild white tiger sightings outside the Bengal’s Indian home range. No snow in those tropical jungles, I can assure you!
The idea comes from the fact that many captive white Bengal tigers are cross-bred with Siberians in order to make them look larger and more visually-appealing to the public. According to information released by Daniel C. Laughlin, a widely-recognized manager of zoological animals, “white tigers in the U.S. (are) crossbred or hybrid animals, part Siberian and part Bengal. So, in conclusion, every white tiger in the U.S. is not only the result of repeated inbreeding of genetically defective animals but, even worse, is a hybrid or crossbred animal. Thus, anyone involved in breeding and/or exhibiting white tigers is doing a great disservice to honest conservation and preservation efforts to save the five remaining and endangered subspecies of tigers barely clinging to survival in their rapidly-diminishing natural habitats.”
You are right, however, to point out that white tigers have occurred in the wild before. The founder of today’s strain comes from a cub named Mohan captured in 1951, and despite what zoos may claim, all white tigers can trace their ancestral lines back to him (Note: Zoos were not required to keep studbooks until the 1980s, so zoos which claim that their white tigers are NOT related to Mohan are mistaken. There is, after all, a one in 10,000 chance of a white tiger occurring naturally without inbreeding involved, and seeing as nearly all Bengal tigers in modern zoos today come from a handful of wild-caught breeding founders, this is highly unlikely. On top of that, there needs to be a genetic base of at least 40 unrelated individuals in order to create a sustainable genepool without having to resort to inbreeding somewhere down the line. So says the Species Survival Plan.).
You are also right (in a sense) to point out the fact that displaying white tigers brings more visitors and raises more awareness to conservation efforts aimed toward normal tigers. But there are two major problems with this idea:
One: White tigers take up space, money, and resources in zoos which could be used to house genetically-stable, endangered tigers.
Two: Deliberately breeding an animal with the knowledge that its life will be unnecessarily painful is cruel, and is a practice that should have no place in modern animal care.
Again, I’m not trying to be rude here; I’m simply trying to educate. Hope this helps!
—Sarah
4 kaci // Jun 7, 2010 at 6:27 am
you know what i think he is freaking adorable… i dont know why someone would want to abuse an animal anyway it is ridiculous. and no matter if the people stop paying to see these animals or not genetic testing/breeding is going to continue to happen with or without the public knowing.
5 grizz // Jul 13, 2010 at 10:30 pm
There are people in the world that deserve to be murdered.