WHITE TIGER ᐈ Photo and description ✔

Origin of the species and description

Photo: White Tiger

A mammal from the order Felidae. Predator. Belongs to the genus Panthera and is one of its most prominent representatives of this genus. The tiger population dates back to the Pleistocene, the remains of the predators found are up to 1.82 million years old. The first remains of ancient tigers were found on the island of Java in Asia. It was previously believed that China was the homeland of Tigers, however, recent research in this area has refuted this theory. Also, the remains of tigers of the late Pleistocene period were found in China, India, Altai and Siberia in Japan and Sakhalin.

Video: White Tiger

According to archaeological data, it is known that the tiger separated from its ancestral line more than 2 million years ago. Much earlier than other representatives of this class. Scientists also know that the first ancestors of tigers were much larger than modern representatives of this class. The modern white tiger was first discovered in 1951.

The color of the tiger is isolated mutations, and is very rare in the wild. This species spread due to the crossing of a white tiger with a yellow female. Parents with a normal color sometimes give birth to white offspring. In the modern world, white tigers successfully live and breed in nurseries and zoos.

Interesting Facts:

Photos of white tigers rank number one among wildlife fans.
The answer to the question of what the white tiger is called is simple: Bengal, Amur or Ussuri.
The ancestor of all captive-bred striped animals was the male Mohan.
The oldest image of this beast is 6 thousand years old. By all indications, the decoration is a talisman. The work is made of shell with mother-of-pearl inlay. In the 80s, an English archaeologist found it in Henan Province.
The roar of the beast can be heard for 3 km.
Residents of Kyrgyzstan worshiped this animal, considering it a protector from all dark

Appearance and features

Photo: Animal white tiger

The white tiger is a very large and strong animal. Dangerous predator. A male white tiger weighs from 180 to 270 kg; depending on where the animal lives and lifestyle, the weight and height of the animal may be greater. There were males weighing up to 370 kg. It is known that the animal that lives on the continents is much larger than the tigers living on the islands.

Features of the body structure of a white tiger:

Height at the withers is 1.17 m. The height of adult males is approximately 2.3-2.5 m;
Female white tigers are smaller in weight and size;
The weight of an adult female is 100-179 kg. Height from 1.8 to 2.2 m;
Tigers have a developed muscular body. Moreover, the front part of the body of tigers is more developed than the back part;
The average head size of an adult male is about 210 mm. Tigers have small, rounded ears, with white hairs on the inside of the ear;
The iris of the eyes is gray-blue. Tigers see well in the dark.

Since the tiger is a predatory animal, it has a developed jaw with sharp fangs. An adult tiger has 30 teeth. The formula for the arrangement of teeth in a tiger is as follows: below there are 2 large fangs and 6 incisors, 1 minor tooth and 2 premolar teeth. On top there are 3 premolar teeth and 1 painter.

Tigers have large, developed fangs, about 9 cm in size. These fangs help kill prey and tear apart meat.

Tigers' fur is warm and dense. Tigers living in cold climates have thicker fur. The cover is low, the coat is white. The hairs are sparsely located. The gray smoky coat has black stripes. There are about 100 black stripes on the entire body of the animal. It should be noted that white tigers are very rare, and they acquired their color due to mutation.

How long does a white tiger live?

On average, tigers live from 14 to 17 years in the wild. However, there are also centenarians who live much longer. In the conditions of the reserve, the life of a tiger is several years longer.

Physiology

This predator has a massive body elongated in length. He has excellent muscles and excellent flexibility, characteristic of all representatives of the cat family. The back of his body is less developed than the front. The animal has five toes on its front paws and four on its hind limbs. All fingers have retractable claws. The head is distinguished by a convex forehead and a rather protruding facial part, a massive large skull and widely spaced cheekbones. The ears are small and rounded.

An adult of this species should have 30 teeth , of which two fangs are up to 8 cm long. On the sides of the animal’s tongue there are tubercles covered with keratinized epithelium, which help separate the meat from the bones of the prey. The animal's skin is covered with rather dense, low hair.

Where do white tigers live?

Photo: White tiger from the Red Book

The habitat of the white tiger is the same as that of other Bengal tigers. The natural habitat of this species is Northern and Central India, Nepal. Ecological region of Terai Duar. Banks of the Ganges and Bangladesh. Representatives of this genus are found in Asia. Where do they get their population from? The island of Java, Afghanistan, Iran and Hindustan.

White tigers mainly live in captivity, but in nature this species is found in the amount of 1 individual per 10 thousand tigers with normal coloring.

These predators are at the top of the food chain

The white tiger's thick white fur allows them to live in habitats with low temperatures and acts as a natural defense. White fur also serves as camouflage, which allows the tiger to hide in snowy regions.

When it comes to hunting, white tigers are very aggressive. They primarily hunt large herbivores, including deer, wild boar, cattle and goats, which feed both in and on the outskirts of forests and jungles. The predator can eat up to 20 kg of fresh meat at a time. This will give him enough energy to not hunt for a few more days.

What does a white tiger eat?

Photo: Rare animal white tiger

The tiger is a carnivorous animal, and the big cats' diet mainly consists of meat. White tigers love to eat ungulates.

The main victims of tigers are:

deer;
roe deer;
wild boars;
moose;
tapirs;
musk deer.

Tigers can also sometimes feast on birds. Most often these are pheasants and partridges, small herbivorous hares and other animals. And, of course, every cat loves fish. Tigers are not afraid of water and happily catch prey from it. White tigers spend a lot of time hunting.

In the summer, a tiger can sit in ambush for quite a long time, tracking down its prey. The tiger is a neat and rather cunning animal; it approaches its prey with small and careful steps. The hunt is carried out from the leeward side, so that the prey can smell its scent. Having gained confidence that the prey is incapable of escaping in a couple of leaps, the predator overtakes the victim.

For small animals, a tiger is a real death machine. It is almost impossible to escape from him. Tigers are fast and agile. While running, their speed is 60 km per hour. Having overtaken the victim, the tiger throws it to the ground and breaks its neck and spine. The tiger then carries the dead animal in its teeth to its lair, where it tears it apart with its fangs.

Features of character and lifestyle

Photo: White Tiger

Adult tigers are quite aggressive animals, vigilantly guarding their territories and not allowing strangers into their domain. Tigers mark their possessions by leaving urine marks everywhere on bushes, trees, and rocks. Male tigers live and hunt alone. Having sensed a stranger on his territory, the male will react to him very aggressively and try to drive the stranger out of the territory. Apart from other tigers, the tiger has no other predators.

Young tigers live alone until it is time to breed. Tigers are polygamous. And with one female there is one male. Tigers are quite family animals. They worry about their offspring, create a den, protect their offspring. They hunt and protect females and broods.

Tigers are also aggressive towards humans. A meeting between a person and a tiger in the wild means certain death. In nature reserves and zoos, animals are less aggressive and allow people to take care of themselves. Training a tiger is very difficult and dangerous. The tiger is a wild animal and domestication of this species is almost impossible. However, in America there are still cases of tigers living in houses, but these are more often the offspring of circus animals whose parents are already accustomed to people.

Hybrids of tigers with other predatory cats

Lions are known to mate with tigers, especially the Bengal and Amur subspecies. A liger is a hybrid resulting from the mating of a male lion and a tigress. The male lion contributes a gene that promotes growth; the tigress does not contribute a gene that inhibits growth. Because of this, ligers are much larger than their parents. They reflect the appearance and behavior of both species. The liger has spots and stripes on its fur that are sandy in color. Male ligers have a 50% chance of growing a mane, but it is only about ½ the length of a pure lion's mane.

The liger is a beautiful and interesting animal, but he has fertility problems. Male ligers are sterile, females are fertile.

Social structure and reproduction

Photo: White tiger cub

Tigers live alone and form families during the breeding season. Consisting of a male, female and brood. Most often, the male pursues the female, showing with a certain grimace that he is ready to mate. But the fact that females themselves come to males is not uncommon. If several males claim one female, a fight occurs between them. The fight may end in the death of one of the animals. The strongest gets the female.

Tigers mate several times a year. This usually happens in December or January. Although this usually does not depend on the season. The male understands that the female is ready to mate by the smell of the female’s urine. Mating occurs several times. A young female white tiger gives birth to her first litter at the age of about 4 years. Most often, after a few years, the birth of a second brood occurs. The pregnancy of a female tiger lasts about 103 days.

The tigress takes a long time to arrange her lair for the birth of cubs. Making sure it is completely safe. After all, over time, the tigress will go hunting, leaving her cubs in the den. In one litter, 3 or 4 tiger cubs are born. Tiger cubs are born blind and are fed with mother's milk for the first six months. Over time, they also begin to go hunting with their mother.

White tigers are rarely born, both heterozygous orange parents having white ancestors have a 25% chance of producing white offspring. Offspring where one parent is white and the other yellow can be white, or maybe yellow. The probability of birth of a white tiger is 50%.

Genetic failures

As scientists have proven, the white tiger is not an albino animal. This coat color can only be caused by the presence of recessive genes. This means that a true albino tiger cannot have black or brown stripes. If both parents are orange but carry certain genes, they have about a 25% chance of producing white-furred offspring. Now let's take another case. For example, if the parents have different colors, i.e. one of them is white and the other is orange, then the chance of getting light-colored offspring increases to 50%.

As mentioned above, among white tigers there are also albinos. These animals have plain fur without traditional stripes. In the organisms of such individuals there is practically no coloring pigment, so their eyes are red due to the blood vessels visible on them.

Natural enemies of white tigers

Photo: White Tiger Red Book

Since the White Tiger is a large and dangerous animal, it has few enemies.

Natural enemies of the white tiger include:

Elephants. An elephant can trample a tiger, although elephants do not experience aggression towards these animals and are able to coexist peacefully side by side. An elephant attacks a tiger only when frightened, sensing danger, or receiving an order from a person. In India, people used to hunt tigers on elephants. Killing tigers with weapons. This was the safest type of hunting for humans.
Brown bears. A brown bear can rarely cope with a large adult tiger, and on the contrary, bears killed by a tiger are often encountered. But a bear is capable of killing fragile young animals or a weakened female.
Human. The main danger to tigers comes from humans. Destruction of natural habitats of animals by humans. The construction of cities and the cutting down of jungles and forests. The decline in population is largely due to the hunting of tigers. Chinese medicine uses the fangs, organs and tissues of tigers. And also precious animal skins are decorations in rich houses, as are stuffed animals. For a long time in India, tiger hunting in the 19th and early 20th centuries was widespread.

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Golden Tiger

The so-called golden variety is the most rare color change caused by a recessive gene. The first mention of meeting golden tigers in the wild dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. Initially, the theory was put forward that the appearance of this type of coloration gradually developed in a small group of tigers that lived in areas rich in clay soils, and the unusual color served them as additional camouflage when hunting. The theory remains unproven. However, inbreeding from a small isolated group of tigers could have influenced the appearance of this color type if one of the tigers carrying the recessive golden gene had bred with its own offspring, as happened in captivity.

At the moment, there are about 30 individuals in captivity with this type of color. Like white tigers, all captive golden tigers are predominantly of Bengal ancestry, but are genetically "contaminated" with genes from a partial Siberian white tiger named Tony, which is the common ancestor of almost all white tigers in North America. The assumption that this coloration appeared by crossing Amur and Bengal tigers is a common misconception.

There is a known mutation in the tiger that results in individuals with an all-white coat—Bengal tigers, which have black-brown stripes on their white fur and blue eyes. This coloration is very rare among wild animals, but is relatively common in captive populations. The frequency of occurrence of white tigers is 1 in 10,000 with normal coloring. White tigers breed excellently in captivity. The first mention of them dates back to 1951, when one of the hunters took a white tiger cub from a tiger’s den he found. Subsequently, this tiger was crossed with a female of normal color, who gave birth to four cubs of normal color. Later, the white tiger was crossed with one of his white daughters, who gave birth to 3 cubs, 2 of which were white. All white tigers kept in captivity are descendants of one individual. Currently, there are about 130 white tigers in zoos around the world. And although dark stripes are clearly visible on their skin, one of the misconceptions is that white tigers are albino.

white tiger

Pure albinos among tigers were recorded only once - in 1922, when two almost adult tiger cubs were killed in the former principality of Cooch Behar. They had pink eyes. In all other cases, tigers with very light colors were observed. Sometimes such individuals are described as “red” tigers.

White tigers were most often found in Assam, Bengal, and Bihar. These animals have a variety of shades: the background ranges from white to cream with stripes of dark gray or chocolate. There is a tea plantation in Assam called Bogabagh (White Tiger). At the beginning of the 20th century, 2 white tiger cubs were discovered there. One of them was killed by a Naga man and brought to the plantation. In general, in many parts of India, superstitious people believe that a hunter who kills a white tiger brings bad luck upon himself.

For thousands of years, white tigers seemed to people to be creatures shrouded in an aura of mystery. At times they inspired fear and often became objects of religious worship. In Kyrgyzstan they talked about a white tiger who is able to solve all the difficult problems of people. During a ritual dance, Kyrgyz shamans, falling into a deep trance, turned to the tiger asking for help. In medieval China, a white tiger was painted on the gates of Taoist temples to protect against evil spirits. The white tiger personified a certain guardian of the land of the dead and symbolized longevity. Stone statues in the form of a tiger were placed on Chinese graves: the demons were supposed to be terrified of such a “guard.” And the Indians firmly believed that if a person sees a white tiger, he will be granted enlightenment and complete happiness. It was from India, where the white tiger was perceived as a super being, quite material, and not at all mythical, that the white tiger set off on its journey around the world. All white tigers kept in captivity today are descended from one common ancestor - a Bengal male named Mohan.

In May 1951, in India, on the territory of the principality of Rewa (Madhya Pradesh), a nine-month-old tiger cub was caught; There were no further reports of white tigers. It happened like this. During a big hunt, the beaters drove a tigress with four nine-month-old cubs towards the hunters. Three of them were of normal color, and the fourth was white; he was bigger and stronger than everyone else. The white tiger cub was spared and put in a cage where he was kept.

When the tiger cub grew up, he was mated with a tigress of normal color and received three offspring one after another. All the cubs were of normal color. Then the tigress, unable to produce a single white offspring, was “expelled,” and the female from the second litter was mated with her father. The offspring they received consisted of four white tiger cubs, exactly like their father: ash-gray brown stripes on a white background, pink pads on their paws, pale blue eyes.

In 1960, the same parents gave birth to two white males and one female of normal color. That same year, one of the white females of the first litter was sold to the National Zoo in Washington. The tigress was named Mohini. In March 1962, the third litter had two white tiger cubs - a male and a female. But since 1960, the export of white tigers from the country was prohibited, and it became even more difficult for the Maharaja to maintain these animals, which could no longer be sold abroad to cover expenses.

In early 1963, the Maharaja received permission to sell a pair of white tiger cubs from 1962 to Bristol Zoo. Tiger cubs Champa and Chameli arrived in London by plane and were transported to Bristol in June 1963. Two white male tigers born in 1960 were sold to West Bengal and placed in the Calcutta Zoo. They were named Niladri and Himadri.

The remaining white tigers are now (1963) the property of the New Delhi Zoo. Only Mohan, the father, remained in Reva, Sukeshi, one of the females of the first litter, and Radha, a tigress of normal color, the mother of all white tiger cubs. Excerpt from the book by E. P. Gee. "Wild Animals of India." 1964.

Most white tigers live in zoos, and only a few are found in the wild. Under natural conditions, the white tiger is found in Southeast Asia. This subspecies is distinguished by its white coat with brown stripes and blue eyes. Their life expectancy is shorter compared to ordinary tigers and they have more fragile health. In natural conditions, it is more difficult for a white tiger to survive, since its light coloring gives it away during the hunt. Many people believe that these predators originated from Siberia, and the white color is camouflage when living in snowy conditions. In fact, white tigers originated in India. Among animals with normal coloring, there are white individuals called albinos. These animals have so little pigment that their eyes appear red due to visible blood vessels. Everyone knows white mice, rats, and rabbits. It is known that in 1922 in India (according to other sources - in Burma) two pure white tigers with red eyes were shot. Similar cases have been recorded in Southern China. The rest of the white tigers known to man cannot be called albinos in the full sense of the word: most of them are blue-eyed and have brown stripes on their skin. It would be more accurate to talk about a light (white) color variation of their color.

Other variations

Melanistic Bengal tigers with smoky or completely black fur have also been reported. There are also reports of tigers with a bluish-gray coloration.

Population and species status

Photo: Animal white tiger

The tiger population is rapidly declining every year. There are only 6,470 individuals worldwide. There are only 400 Amur tigers. White tigers are rare and on the verge of extinction. The destruction of natural habitats, the construction of cities and roads lead to the fact that there are fewer and fewer white tigers. In addition, hunting and poaching have caused irreparable harm to tiger populations around the world.

The white tiger species is listed in the Red Book; catching and hunting tigers is prohibited. The status of the species in the Red Book is “endangered species”. White tigers are carefully protected in all countries and hunting them is prohibited.

Population conservation

In order to increase the number of white tigers and reduce their extinction even further, a number of measures are being taken. In particular, these include:

A complete ban on hunting. Killing a tiger can lead to imprisonment and huge fines;
Implementation of animal tracking systems. A special tracker is hung on the animals, which helps monitor their health and possible diseases. Their location is also monitored.
Reserves. Since most white tigers live in various reserves, it is extremely important to create the most comfortable conditions for these animals.

It is very important to monitor the health of white tigers as they are highly susceptible to many diseases. Animals become so sick because of crossbreeding. They quite often experience kidney disease, strabismus, allergies and spinal curvature.

Without implementing measures to preserve and propagate the population, humanity risks losing another unique representative of the fauna on earth.