White Tigers!

The white tiger (also known as the Bengal tiger) is about 3 meters long, and weighs approximately 180-285 kg (400-569 LB). It’s coat lies flatter than that of the Siberian tiger, the tawny color is richer and the stripes are darker.

White tigers are white colored bengals, they are not albinos and they are not a separate subspecies of tigers.

They have blue eyes, a pink nose, and creamy white furr covered with chocolate colored stripes. White tigers are born to tigers that carry the unusual gene needed for white coloring. Wild white tigers are rare species.

Fascinating fact about white tigers:

- The white tiger is a good swimmer, but a very poor climber.

- They may be slow runners, but they are stealthy enough to catch any prey in their sights.

- Because they are solitary animals, they hunt mostly at night

- White tigers are born to Bengal tigers that carry an unusual gene needed for white coloring.

- The other four sub-species of tiger are Siberian, South China, Indochinese, and Sumataran. There are only approximately 5,000 to 7,400 tigers left in the wild.

"There's more bad news from Kanha Tiger Reserve. Tragically, yet another tiger was found dead in Kisli Range, yesterday morning. It was a beautiful adult male, in his prime. The animal was lying in a pool of water with head injuries that had apparently been inflicted by another tiger."

Why are these happening around us? White tigers are like one of the most exotic animals on Earth. It should be protected and not slaughtered for its fur.

There are only around 200 of the white tigers left in the world. White tigers are an Asian species, found from the frozen tundra of the Soviet Far East, south to the humid jungles of Malaya and Indonesia, and west to the hot, hardwood forests of India. There are five living subspecies; three others are already extinct. Current estimates put the world population of wild tigers at about 5,000-7,000, the most numerous race being the Bengal race, distributed among some 18 tiger reserves and sanctuaries of India (and a half-dozen in Nepal and Bangladesh), accounting for over two-thirds of all wild tigers.Tigers are a protected species all over the world. Even though it's completely illegal to hunt them, people are still slaying these beautiful creatures.

The history of White Tiger

During the last 100 years, merely 12 white tigers have been spotted in the wild in India; giving an approximate proportion of 1 white tiger for every 10,000 normal pigmented (orange) tigers.

The white tiger's origin was recorded in India during the start of the HB Mughal period from 1556 to 1605 A.D.

The first "modern" case of a white tiger being captured was in 1915. He was caught by the local maharajah who kept the tiger until its death.

The recent spotting of a white Bengal tiger in the wild was in Rewa (Central India) on 27, May 1951. This male tiger was captured by the Maharaja Martand Singh of Rewa and was named Mohan - it is from this animal that all white tigers in captivity today are descended.

In 1960, a two year old white tiger in Rewa, Mohini, was bought by a businessman for US $10,000.00 and given to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. On 5th December 1960, Rewa appeared on the USA White House lawn with then president, Eisenhower.

Rewa was used to try and breed more white tigers in the USA (with normal orange tigers) but her offspring had various physical defects.

At the beginning of this century it is estimated that there were 100,000 wild tigers, today the number is less than 8,000. Simply put, tigers are disappearing in the wild. The main threats to tigers are poaching, habitat loss and population fragmentation.

Habitat & Range

Tigers usually dwell in an area from about 10 to 30 square miles where there is enough prey, cover/shelter and water to support them. Territory mainly depends upon the amount of prey which is available. The more concentrated the prey the smaller is the area that a tiger needs to survive.

If we want the next generation to be able to see such beautiful and amazing animal, WE GOT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Save the Bengals!