Are white tigers endangered, and what are it’s niches?
Dec.30, 2009 in
Uncategorized
suiseiseki_x3@ymail.com asked:
I’m doing a brochure for my science class and we are supposed to be doing an endangered animal and as I have researched I’ve found out that most white tigers are inbred, which is why they are white, through a specific gene.
I’m doing a brochure for my science class and we are supposed to be doing an endangered animal and as I have researched I’ve found out that most white tigers are inbred, which is why they are white, through a specific gene.
The main thing is to tell how they became endangered, what can we do to help them, and what are it’s niche/s.
Thanks in advance for any help (:
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January 2nd, 2010 at 1:34 pm
First of all, one must understand that white tigers are neither a separate species or subspecies of tiger. In contrary, they are simply Bengal tigers suffering from a genetic mutation, which causes them to have near white fur, instead of orange, with the traditional dark stripes. White tigers should not be confused with albino tigers, as they obviously aren’t the same thing - albino tigers lack the necessary pigmentation to create color, therefore, their coats look totally white (as opposed to the white coat with black stripes of the white tiger) and their eyes are either reddish or pink, while the eyes of the white tiger are blue. Normal tigers have hazel eye colors.
It is to be noted that white tigers are either very rare or completely nonexistent in the wild, and this has little to do with human interaction. Rather, there are several other reasons that conclude the fact that there are so few or no white tigers. One being the fact that only a small amount of the tiger population, which is though to consist of nearly 3,000 individuals, possesses the special gene with the ability to render the tiger’s fur white. Plus, the complimenting fact that this unique gene is recessive and both parents must contain it, makes it very unlikely for a white tiger to naturally occur in the wild. Though it is possible to happen, the chances of it surviving and making it into adulthood would be slim - its white coat with dark stripes is a give-away, which doesn’t blend in with the sorroudings, thus the tiger would be exposed to great danger as a cub, facing threats from other competitors, and as an adult, it would do extremely poorly at hunting.
Today, most white Bengal tigers are prone to zoos and captive centers in the Untited States, and are intentionally inbred to be white, for the pleasure and entertainment of the public. It is thought that white tigers in captivity and zoos may count as many as 100.
January 4th, 2010 at 7:24 am
White tigers are not a different species or subspecies - they are simply Bengal tigers with a genetic condition called leucism, which results in reduced pigmentation. This is not the same as albinism, which is a complete lack of pigment - an albino tiger would have no stripes, and have pink eyes, not blue.
Tigers are an endangered species due to habitat loss and people hunting them, both for their fur and for their bones, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine (though they have no proven medicinal value at all). White tigers are naturally rarer than normally coloured ones, for two reasons. Firstly, leucism is passed on by recessive genes, meaning that two tigers which carry the gene must mate, and both must pass on the leucistic gene to the offspring in order for that offspring to be white (if only one parent passes on the leucistic gene, the offspring will be normally coloured, since the gene for normal coloured fur, passed on by the other parent, is dominant over the leucistic gene). Secondly, most white cubs born will be killed by predators whilst young and vulnerable, since they lack the natural camouflage of normally coloured tigers - their colour makes them stand out as an obvious target. Those that do make it to adulthood have a hard time hunting for the same reason - their colour makes it easier for their prey to see them coming.
The niche of the tiger, regardless of its colour, is that of a top predator. Tigers have no natural enemies - they hunt other animals for food, and nothing hunts them (except for humans, sadly).
White tigers are common in captivity as they are a draw for zoos and wildlife parks. Unfortunately, this has led to some unscrupulous breeding in the past, and many captive white tigers are now inbred and suffer the detrimental results.