White Tigers

The entire captive white tiger population has been said to originate from one single white tiger, who was found in the wild as a cub by a hunter in the 1950s. It likely would not have survived for long in the wild and for a reason, it lacks the camouflage which makes them easier to see, it would suffer from a variety of health concerns from its genes, and trophy hunters. They serve no conservation purpose, yet more are bred through incest every year with around 200 in captivity.

A myth that is often spread is that white tigers are an endangered species that needs to be conserved. In reality, they are not a species and are the product of a recessive gene. Humans have tried to bring out the gene through the inbreeding of generations of tigers. Beginning with Mohan.

Mohan was the first wild white tiger put into captivity. He was bred to an orange tiger whose offspring were all orange. They then bred him with one of his own daughters who then produced white cubs. That was in 1951, now, all 200 white tigers in captivity are related to Mohan, and only exist through the continuous inbreeding of father to daughter, brother to sister and mother to son.

In the process of inbreeding to try to create white tigers, the tigers are born with deformities. All of these cubs are born with crossed eyes while others can also suffer from deformities such as cleft palates, club feet, spinal deformities, mental impairments, and defective organs.

Most of the cubs bred through this inbreeding are not white, but they still suffer from the same defects as the white ones and are thus labelled “throw away tigers”. They are often killed at birth because they don’t make as much money and serve no conservation purpose since they are not purebred but crosses between Bengal and Siberian tigers. This inbreeding is a cruel practice that doesn’t serve any conservation purpose and only exist to benefit humans while completely disregarding the cruelty it brings to these tigers.