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There were nine subspecies of Tiger in the world: the Siberian Tiger, the South China Tiger, Indochinese Tiger, the Sumatran Tiger, the Bengal Tiger, the Malayan Tiger, the Balinese Tiger, the Javan Tiger, and the Caspian Tiger or Persian Tiger. Three of these nine subspecies of tiger have gone extinct in the last century and one of them is believed to become extinct in the near future because of human influences.^[4] The historical range of these nine subspecies ranges from Russia to Siberia, Iran, Afghanistan, India, China and southeast Asia, and the Indonesian islands. Today though, with a third of the subspecies extinct, their range has greatly diminished.

Subspecies still existing

Siberian tiger

The Siberian tiger is also known as the Amur, Manchurian or North China tiger. It is the largest tiger. It is classified as endangered because its population is not sufficiently large enough for it to be sustainable. There are only 400 of these tigers in the wild, however many of these populations are no longer genetically viable so there is a very large chance of inbreeding. It practically only lives in a very restricted part of Eastern Russia. The Siberian tiger is by far the largest subspecies with its males as long as 10 feet, weighing approximately 800 pounds. This tiger can also be recognized for its thick coat that is pale gold and has very few stripes.

South China tiger

The South China tiger is also known as "Amoy" or "Xiamen" tiger. This subspecies of tiger is expected to become extinct and is currently in extremely critical danger. No live South China tiger has been seen in its natural habitat in the last 20 years, and the last known wild tiger was shot in 1994. In 1959, Chinese leader Mao Zedong declared the South China tiger a "pest," and the overall population of this subspecies quickly dropped from about 4,000 to 200 in only 17 years. In 1977, however, the Chinese government reversed this policy. Extinction is now considered inevitable because of a lack of genetic diversity; there are only 59 of these tigers captive in China, and they are all descended from the same six tigers.

Indochinese tiger

The Indochinese tiger is also known as the Corbett's tiger. It is found in Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The population of this tiger ranges from 800 to 1000, however it is more likely that it is in the lower part of this range. The Indochinese tiger now mainly exists in Malaysia where illegal poaching is very strictly controlled. In all the populations of this tiger, there are risks of inbreeding and they are at risk for habitat fragmentation. In Vietnam, two thirds of the tigers killed provide stock for Chinese pharmacies. These tigers are also used as resources to try and eliminate poverty.

Sumatran Tiger

The Sumatran Tiger is only found on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra and its population is estimated to be between 400 and 500 animals. If it is not made extinct it is believed that this species of tiger will evolve into a separate species because in recent genetic testing, unique genetic markers have been revealed. This gives the Sumatran tiger a greater chance of conservation that any other subspecies. This tigers major threat is habitat destruction, and also shootings which killed almost 20% of this subspecies population in only 2 years.^{[citation needed]}

Bengal Tiger

The Bengal Tiger is also known as the Royal Bengal Tiger. It is found in the Sunderbans, which is a national forest of Bangladesh and West Bengal in India. The Bengal tiger is the national animal of both Bangladesh and India. Of all the subspecies of tiger. The Bengal Tiger has the biggest population.

Malayan Tiger

The Malayan Tiger is found in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula. Up until 2004 the Malayan tiger wasn't considered a subspecies in its own right. It became classified as a subspecies after a study from the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, which is part of the National Cancer Institute, US. Other than the Bengal Tiger, the Malayan Tiger had the population ranging from 600-800 in the wild.

Extinct Subspecies

Balinese Tiger

The Balinese Tiger once lived on the island of Bali, however it was hunted to extinction. It is believed that the last tiger was killed at Sumbar Kima, West Bali on September 27 in 1937 and that it was an adult female. This tiger to this day plays an important role in Balinese Hindu religion. It has never been held in captivity.

Javan Tiger

The Javan Tiger once lived on the Indonesian island of Java. It was made extinct anywhere from the 1950s to the 1980s because its habitat was destroyed and it was hunted. It is believed that the last tiger was spotted in 1979.

Caspian Tiger

The Caspian Tiger was also known as the Persian tiger. It was yellow with black stripes. It either became extinct in the late 1960s with the last sighting in 1968 or in 1970 when it is claimed that the last one was shot in south-eastern-most Turkey. This tiger lived in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, the former Soviet Union and Turkey.

See also

• Tigers
• Endangered Species Act
• Endangered Species
• Subspecies

References

1. ^ Chundawat, R.S., Habib, B., Karanth, U., Kawanishi, K., Ahmad Khan, J., Lynam, T., Miquelle, D., Nyhus, P., Sunarto, Tilson, R. & Sonam Wang (2008). Panthera tigris. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 9 October 2008.
2. ^ "Wild Tiger Conservation". Save The Tiger Fund. http://www.savethetigerfund.org. Retrieved 2009-03-07. 
3. ^ Linnaeus, Carolus (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae:secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis.. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Laurentii Salvii). p. 41. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726936. Retrieved 2008-09-08. 
4. ^ http://www.catchannel.com/Magazines/CatFancy/april-2008/tiger-subspecies.aspx, Tiger Subspecies, Brad Collus, BowTie Inc., 2009, 10/18/09

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to 3.3 metres (11 ft) and weighing up to 306 kg (670 lb). Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts. They have exceptionally stout teeth, and their canines are the longest among living felids with a crown height of as much as 74.5 mm (2.93 in) or even 90 mm (3.5 in).^[4] In zoos, tigers have lived for 20 to 26 years, which also seems to be their longevity in the wild.^[5] They are territorial and generally solitary but social animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey requirements. This, coupled with the fact that they are indigenous to some of the more densely populated places on Earth, has caused significant conflicts with humans.

Tigers once ranged widely across Asia, from Turkey in the west to the eastern coast of Russia. Over the past 100 years, they have lost 93% of their historic range, and have been extirpated from southwest and central Asia, from the islands of Java and Bali, and from large areas of Southeast and Eastern Asia. Today, they range from the Siberian taiga to open grasslands and tropical mangrove swamps. The remaining six tiger subspecies have been classified as endangered by IUCN. The global population in the wild is estimated to number between 3,062 to 3,948 individuals, with most remaining populations occurring in small pockets that are isolated from each other. Major reasons for population decline include habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation and poaching.^[1] The extent of area occupied by tigers is estimated at less than 1,184,911 km² (457,497 sq mi), a 41% decline from the area estimated in the mid-1990s.^[6]

Tigers are among the most recognisable and popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. They have featured prominently in ancient mythology and folklore, and continue to be depicted in modern films and literature. Tigers appear on many flags, coats of arms, and as mascots for sporting teams.^[7] The Bengal tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh and India.^[8]

Taxonomy and etymology

In 1758, Linnaeus first described the species in his work Systema Naturae under the scientific name Felis tigris.^[3] In 1929, the British taxonomist Reginald Innes Pocock subordinated the species under the genus Panthera using the scientific name Panthera tigris.^[9]

The word Panthera is probably of Oriental origin and retraceable to the Ancient Greek word panther, the Latin word panthera, the Old French word pantere, most likely meaning "the yellowish animal", or from pandarah meaning whitish-yellow. The derivation from Greek pan- ("all") and ther ("beast") may be folk etymology that led to many curious fables.^[10]

The word "tiger" is retraceable to the Latin word tigris meaning a spotted tigerhound of Actaeon.^[11] The Greek word tigris is possibly derived from a Persian source.^[12]

Range of the tiger in 1900 and 1990

Characteristics and evolution

Video from the Disney's Animal Kingdom

The oldest remains of a tiger-like cat, called Panthera palaeosinensis, have been found in China and Java. This species lived about 2 million years ago, at the beginning of the Pleistocene, and was smaller than a modern tiger. The earliest fossils of true tigers are known from Java, and are between 1.6 and 1.8 million years old. Distinct fossils from the early and middle Pleistocene were also discovered in deposits from China, and Sumatra. A subspecies called the Trinil tiger (Panthera tigris trinilensis) lived about 1.2 million years ago and is known from fossils found at Trinil in Java.^[13]

Tigers first reached India and northern Asia in the late Pleistocene, reaching eastern Beringia (but not the American Continent), Japan, and Sakhalin. Fossils found in Japan indicate that the local tigers were, like the surviving island subspecies, smaller than the mainland forms. This may be due to the phenomenon in which body size is related to environmental space (see insular dwarfism), or perhaps the availability of prey. Until the Holocene, tigers also lived in Borneo, as well as on the island of Palawan in the Philippines.^[14]

Characteristics

Siberian tiger

Tigers have muscular bodies with particularly powerful forelimbs and large heads. The pelage coloration varies between shades of orange or brown with white ventral areas and distinctive black stripes. The face has long whiskers, which are especially long in males. The pupils are circular with yellow irises. The small, rounded ears have black markings on the back, surrounding a white spot.^[4] These spots, called ocelli, play an important role in intraspecific communication.^[15]

The pattern of stripes is unique to each animal, these unique markings can be used by researchers to identify individuals (both in the wild and captivity), much in the same way that fingerprints are used to identify humans. It seems likely that the function of stripes is camouflage, serving to help tigers conceal themselves amongst the dappled shadows and long grass of their environment as they stalk their prey. The stripe pattern is also found on the skin of the tiger. If a tiger were to be shaved, its distinctive camouflage pattern would be preserved.

Skeleton

The tiger are the most variable in size of all big cats, even more so than the leopard and much more so than lions.^[16] The Bengal, Caspian and Siberian tiger subspecies represent the largest living felids, and rank among the biggest felids that ever existed. Females vary in size from 240 to 275 cm (94 to 108 in), weigh 85 to 167 kg (190 to 370 lb) with a greatest length of skull ranging from 268 to 318 mm (10.6 to 12.5 in). Males vary in size from 270 to 330 cm (110 to 130 in), weigh 170 to 306 kg (370 to 670 lb) with a greatest length of skull ranging from 316 to 383 mm (12.4 to 15.1 in). Body size of different populations seems to be correlated with climate—Bergmann's Rule—and can be explained from the point of view of thermoregulation.^[4] Large male Siberian tigers can reach a total length of more than 3.5 m (11 ft) "over curves", 3.3 m (11 ft) "between pegs" and a weight of 306 kg (670 lb). This is considerably larger than the size reached by the smallest living tiger subspecies, the Sumatran tiger, which reach a body weight of 75 to 140 kg (170 to 310 lb). At the shoulder, tigers may variously stand 0.7 to 1.22 m (2.3 to 4.0 ft) tall.^[5]

Tigresses are smaller than the males in each subspecies, although the size difference between male and female tigers tends to be more pronounced in the larger tiger subspecies, with males weighing up to 1.7 times more than the females.^[17] In addition, male tigers have wider forepaw pads than females. Biologists use this difference to determine gender based on tiger tracks.^[18] The skull of the tiger is very similar to that of the lion, though the frontal region is usually not as depressed or flattened, with a slightly longer postorbital region. The skull of a lion has broader nasal openings. However, due to the amount of skull variation in the two species, usually, only the structure of the lower jaw can be used as a reliable indicator of species.^[19]

Subspecies

A Bengal tiger with a cub.

There are nine subspecies of tiger, three of which are extinct. Their historical range in Bangladesh, Siberia, Iran, Afghanistan, India, China, and southeast Asia, including three Indonesian islands is severely diminished today. The surviving subspecies, in descending order of wild population, are:

• The Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) lives in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and is the most common subspecies with populations estimated at less than 2,500 adult individuals. In 2011 the total population of adult tigers is estimated at 1,520–1,909 in India, 440 in Bangladesh, 155 in Nepal and 75 in Bhutan.^[20] It lives in alluvial grasslands, subtropical and tropical rainforests, scrub forests, wet and dry deciduous forests, and mangroves. Male Bengal tigers had a total length, including the tail, of 270 to 310 cm (110 to 120 in), while females range from 240 to 265 cm (94 to 104 in). The weight of males range from 175 to 260 kg (390 to 570 lb), while that of the females range from 100 to 181 kg (220 to 400 lb).^[4][21] In northern India and Nepal, tigers tend to be of larger size. Males often average 235 kilograms (520 lb), while females average 141 kilograms (310 lb).^[22] In 1972, Project Tiger was founded in India aiming at ensuring a viable population of tigers in the country and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage for the people.^[23] But the illicit demand for bones and body parts from wild tigers for use in Traditional Chinese medicine is the reason for the unrelenting poaching pressure on tigers on the Indian subcontinent.^[24] Between 1994 and 2009, the Wildlife Protection Society of India has documented 893 cases of tigers killed in India, which is just a fraction of the actual poaching and illegal trade in tiger parts during those years.^[25] An area of special conservation interest lies in the Terai Arc Landscape in the Himalayan foothills of northern India and southern Nepal, where 11 protected areas comprising dry forest foothills and tall grass savannas harbor tigers in a 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi) landscape. The goals are to manage tigers as a single metapopulation, the dispersal of which between core refuges can help maintain genetic, demographic, and ecological integrity, and to ensure that species and habitat conservation becomes mainstreamed into the rural development agenda. In Nepal, a community-based tourism model has been developed with a strong emphasis on sharing benefits with local people and on the regeneration of degraded forests. The approach has been successful in reducing poaching, restoring habitats, and creating a local constituency for conservation.^[26]

Indochinese tiger

• The Indochinese Tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), also called Corbett's tiger, is found in Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam. These tigers are smaller and darker than Bengal tigers: Males weigh from 150–190 kg (330–420 lb) while females are smaller at 110–140 kg (240–310 lb). Their preferred habitat is forests in mountainous or hilly regions. According to government estimates of national tiger populations, the subspecies numbers around a total of 350 individuals.^[27] All existing populations are at extreme risk from poaching, prey depletion as a result of poaching of primary prey species such as deer and wild pigs, habitat fragmentation and inbreeding. In Vietnam, almost three-quarters of the tigers killed provide stock for Chinese pharmacies.

Malayan tiger

• The Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni), exclusively found in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula, was not considered a subspecies in its own right until 2004. The new classification came about after a study by Luo et al. from the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity Study,^[28] part of the National Cancer Institute of the United States. According to official government figures, the population in the wild may number around 500 individuals, but is under considerable poaching pressure. The Malayan tiger is the smallest of the mainland tiger subspecies, and the second smallest living subspecies, with males averaging about 120 kg and females about 100 kg in weight. The Malayan tiger is a national icon in Malaysia, appearing on its coat of arms and in logos of Malaysian institutions, such as Maybank.

Sumatran tiger

Siberian tiger

• The Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and is critically endangered.^[29] It is the smallest of all living tiger subspecies, with adult males weighing between 100–140 kg (220–310 lb) and females 75–110 kg (170–240 lb).^[30] Their small size is an adaptation to the thick, dense forests of the island of Sumatra where they reside, as well as the smaller-sized prey. The wild population is estimated at between 400 and 500, seen chiefly in the island's national parks. Recent genetic testing has revealed the presence of unique genetic markers, indicating that it may develop into a separate species,^[specify] if it does not go extinct.^[31] This has led to suggestions that Sumatran tigers should have greater priority for conservation than any other subspecies. While habitat destruction is the main threat to existing tiger population (logging continues even in the supposedly protected national parks), 66 tigers were recorded as being shot and killed between 1998 and 2000, or nearly 20% of the total population.

• The Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as the Amur tiger, inhabits the Amur-Ussuri region of Primorsky Krai and Khabarovsk Krai in far eastern Siberia.^[32] It ranks among the biggest felids that have ever existed with a head and body length of 160–180 cm (63–71 in) for females and 190–230 cm (75–91 in) for males, plus a tail of about 60–110 cm (24–43 in) and an average weight of around 227 kg (500 lb) for males. Siberian tigers have thick coats and a paler golden hue and fewer stripes.^[4] The heaviest wild Siberian tiger weighed 384 kg (850 lb) but according to Mazák this record is not reliable.^[5] In 2005, there were 331–393 adult-subadult Siberian tigers in the region, with a breeding adult population of about 250 individuals. The population has been stable for more than a decade, but partial surveys conducted after 2005 indicate that the Russian tiger population is declining.^[33] At the turn of the century, the phylogenetic relationships of tiger subspecies was re-assessed, and a remarkable similarity between the Siberian and Caspian tiger observed indicating that the Siberian tiger population is the genetically closest living relative of the extinct Caspian tiger, and strongly implying a very recent common ancestry for the two groups.^[34]

South China tiger

• The South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis), also known as the Amoy or Xiamen tiger, is the most critically endangered subspecies of tiger and is listed as one of the 10 most endangered animals in the world.^[35] One of the smaller tiger subspecies, the length of the South China tiger ranges from 2.2–2.6 m (87–100 in) for both males and females. Males weigh between 127 and 177 kg (280 and 390 lb) while females weigh between 100 and 118 kg (220 and 260 lb). From 1983 to 2007, no South China tigers were sighted.^[36] In 2007 a farmer spotted a tiger and handed in photographs to the authorities as proof.^[36][37] The photographs in question, however, were later exposed as fake, copied from a Chinese calendar and digitally altered, and the "sighting" turned into a massive scandal.^[38][39][40]
  In 1977, the Chinese government passed a law banning the killing of wild tigers, but this may have been too late to save the subspecies, since it is possibly already extinct in the wild. There are currently 59 known captive South China tigers, all within China, but these are known to be descended from only six animals. Thus, the genetic diversity required to maintain the subspecies may no longer exist.^{[citation needed]} Currently, there are breeding efforts to reintroduce these tigers to the wild.^{[citation needed]}

Extinct subspecies

A hunted down Bali tiger

A photograph of a Javan tiger.

A captive Caspian tiger, Berlin Zoological Garden 1899

• The Bali tiger (Panthera tigris balica) was limited to the Indonesian island of Bali, and was the smallest subspecies with a weight of 90–100 kg (200–220 lb) in males and 65–80 kg (140–180 lb) in females.^[5] Bali tigers were hunted to extinction — the last Bali tiger, an adult female, is thought to have been killed at Sumbar Kima, West Bali on 27 September 1937. There is no Bali tiger in captivity. The tiger still plays an important role in Balinese Hinduism.
• The Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata), also known as the Hyrcanian tiger or Turan tiger was found in the sparse forest habitats and riverine corridors west and south of the Caspian Sea and west through Central Asia into the Takla-Makan desert of Xinjiang, and has been recorded in the wild until the early 1970s.^[41] The Amur tiger is the genetically closest living relative of the Caspian tiger.^[34]
• The Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) was limited to the island of Java, and has been recorded until the mid-1970s.^[42] Javan tigers were larger than Bali tigers; males weighed 100–140 kg (220–310 lb) and females 75–115 kg (170–250 lb).^[43] After 1979, there were no more confirmed sightings in the region of Mount Betiri.^[44] An expedition to Mount Halimun Salak National Park in 1990 did not yield any definite, direct evidence for the continued existence of tigers.^[45]

Hybrids

Hybridisation among the big cats, including the tiger, was first conceptualised in the 19th century, when zoos were particularly interested in the pursuit of finding oddities to display for financial gain.^[46] Lions have been known to breed with tigers (most often the Amur and Bengal subspecies) to create hybrids called ligers and tigons.^[47] Such hybrids were once commonly bred in zoos, but this is now discouraged due to the emphasis on conserving species and subspecies. Hybrids are still bred in private menageries and in zoos in China.

The liger is a cross between a male lion and a tigress.^[48] Because the lion sire passes on a growth-promoting gene, but the corresponding growth-inhibiting gene from the female tiger is absent, ligers grow far larger than either parent. They share physical and behavioural qualities of both parent species (spots and stripes on a sandy background). Male ligers are sterile, but female ligers are often fertile. Males have about a 50% chance of having a mane, but, even if they do, their manes will be only around half the size of that of a pure lion. Ligers are typically between 10 to 12 feet in length, and can be between 800 and 1,000 pounds or more.^[48]

The less common tigon is a cross between the lioness and the male tiger.^[49]

Colour variations

White tigers

A Bengal white tiger in Bannerghatta National Park in Bangalore

A pair of white tigers at the Singapore Zoo.

There is a well-known allele that produces the white tiger, technically known as chinchilla albinistic,^[50] an animal which is rare in the wild, but widely bred in zoos due to its popularity. Breeding of white tigers will often lead to inbreeding (as the trait is recessive). Many initiatives have taken place in white and orange tiger mating in an attempt to remedy the issue, often mixing subspecies in the process. Such inbreeding has led to white tigers having a greater likelihood of being born with physical defects, such as cleft palates and scoliosis (curvature of the spine).^[51][52] Furthermore, white tigers are prone to having crossed eyes (a condition known as strabismus). Even apparently healthy white tigers generally do not live as long as their orange counterparts. Recordings of white tigers were first made in the early 19th century.^[53] They can only occur when both parents carry the rare gene found in white tigers; this gene has been calculated to occur in only one in every 10,000 births. The white tiger is not a separate sub-species, but only a colour variation; since the only white tigers that have been observed in the wild have been Bengal tigers^[54] (and all white tigers in captivity are at least part Bengal), it is commonly thought that the recessive gene that causes the white colouring is probably carried only by Bengal tigers, although the reasons for this are not known.^[51][55] Nor are they in any way more endangered than tigers are generally, this being a common misconception. Another misconception is that white tigers are albinos, despite the fact that pigment is evident in the white tiger's stripes. They are distinct not only because of their white hue; they also have blue eyes.

Golden tigers

A rare golden tiger at the Buffalo Zoo.

In addition, another recessive gene may create a very unusual "golden" or "golden tabby" colour variation, sometimes known as "strawberry." Golden tigers have light gold fur, pale legs and faint orange stripes. Their fur tends to be much thicker than normal.^[56] There are extremely few golden tigers in captivity, around 30 in all. Like white tigers, golden tigers are invariably at least part Bengal. Some golden tigers carry the white tiger gene, and when two such tigers are mated, can produce some stripeless white offspring. Both white and golden tigers tend to be larger than average Bengal tigers.

Other colour variations

There is no authenticated case of a black tiger, with the possible exception of one dead specimen examined in Chittagong in 1846.^[57] There are unconfirmed reports of a "blue" or slate-coloured tiger, the Maltese tiger. Largely or totally black tigers are assumed, if real, to be intermittent mutations rather than distinct species.^[50]

Distribution and habitat

In the past, tigers were found throughout Asia, from the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea to Siberia and the Indonesian islands of Java, Bali and Sumatra. During the 20th century, tigers have been extirpated in western Asia and became restricted to isolated pockets in the remaining parts of their range. Today, their fragmented and partly degraded range extends from India in the west to China and Southeast Asia. The northern limit of their range is close to the Amur River in south eastern Siberia. The only large island inhabited by tigers today is Sumatra.^[1]

Tigers were extirpated on the island of Bali in the 1940s, around the Caspian Sea in the 1970s, and on Java in the 1980s. Loss of habitat and the persistent killing of tigers and tiger prey precipitated these extirpations, a process that continues to leave forests devoid of tigers and other large mammals across South and Southeast Asia. Since the beginning of the 21st century, their historical range has shrunk by 93%. In the decade from 1997 to 2007, the estimated area known to be occupied by tigers has declined by 41%.^[2]

Fossil remains indicate that tigers were present in Borneo and Palawan in the Philippines during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.^[58][59]

Tiger habitats will usually include sufficient cover, proximity to water, and an abundance of prey. Bengal tigers live in many types of forests, including wet, evergreen, the semi-evergreen of Assam and eastern Bengal; the mangrove forest of the Ganges Delta; the deciduous forest of Nepal, and the thorn forests of the Western Ghats. Compared to the lion, the tiger prefers denser vegetation, for which its camouflage colouring is ideally suited, and where a single predator is not at a disadvantage compared with the multiple felines in a pride.

Biology and behaviour

Territorial behaviour

Adult tigers lead solitary lives and congregate only on an ad hoc and transitory basis when special conditions permit, such as plentiful supply of food. They establish and maintain home ranges. Resident adults of either sex tend to confine their movements to a definite area of habitat, within which they satisfy their needs, and in the case of tigresses, those of their growing cubs. Those sharing the same ground are well aware of each other's movements and activities.^[57]

The size of a tiger's home range mainly depends on prey abundance, and, in the case of male tigers, on access to females. A tigress may have a territory of 20 km² (7.7 sq mi), while the territories of males are much larger, covering 60 to 100 km² (23 to 39 sq mi). The range of a male tends to overlap those of several females.^{[citation needed]}

Tigers are strong swimmers, and are often found bathing in ponds, lakes, and rivers. During the extreme heat of the day, they often cool off in pools. They are able to carry prey through the water.

Tigers for the most part are solitary animals.

The relationships between individuals can be quite complex, and it appears that there is no set "rule" that tigers follow with regards to territorial rights and infringing territories. For instance, although for the most part tigers avoid each other, both male and female tigers have been documented sharing kills. George Schaller observed a male tiger share a kill with two females and four cubs. Females are often reluctant to let males near their cubs, but Schaller saw that these females made no effort to protect or keep their cubs from the male, suggesting that the male might have been the father of the cubs. In contrast to male lions, male tigers will allow the females and cubs to feed on the kill first. Furthermore, tigers seem to behave relatively amicably when sharing kills, in contrast to lions, which tend to squabble and fight. Unrelated tigers have also been observed feeding on prey together. The following quotation is from Stephen Mills' book Tiger, as he describes an event witnessed by Valmik Thapar and Fateh Singh Rathore in Ranthambhore National Park:^[60]

A dominant tigress they called Padmini killed a 250 kg (550 lb) male nilgai – a very large antelope. They found her at the kill just after dawn with her three 14-month-old cubs and they watched uninterrupted for the next ten hours. During this period the family was joined by two adult females and one adult male – all offspring from Padmini's previous litters and by two unrelated tigers, one female the other unidentified. By three o'clock there were no fewer than nine tigers round the kill.

When young female tigers first establish a territory, they tend to do so fairly close to their mother's area. The overlap between the female and her mother's territory tends to wane with increasing time. Males, however, wander further than their female counterparts, and set out at a younger age to mark out their own area. A young male will acquire territory either by seeking out a range devoid of other male tigers, or by living as a transient in another male's territory until he is old and strong enough to challenge the resident male. The highest mortality rate (30–35% per year) amongst adult tigers occurs for young male tigers who have just left their natal area, seeking out territories of their own.^[60]

Two male Bengal tiger siblings play with each other in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, India.

Tiger dentition (above), compared with that of an Asian black bear (below). The large canines are used to make the killing bite, but they tear meat when feeding using the carnassial teeth.

Male tigers are generally more intolerant of other males within their territory than females are of other females. For the most part, however, territorial disputes are usually solved by displays of intimidation, rather than outright aggression. Several such incidents have been observed, in which the subordinate tiger yielded defeat by rolling onto its back, showing its belly in a submissive posture.^[61] Once dominance has been established, a male may actually tolerate a subordinate within his range, as long as they do not live in too close quarters.^[60] The most violent disputes tend to occur between two males when a female is in oestrus, and may result in the death of one of the males, although this is a rare occurrence.^[60][61]

To identify his territory, the male marks trees by spraying of urine and anal gland secretions, as well as marking trails with scat. Males show a grimacing face, called the Flehmen response, when identifying a female's reproductive condition by sniffing their urine markings. Like the other Panthera cats, tigers can roar. Tigers will roar for both aggressive and non-aggressive reasons. Other tiger vocal communications include moans, hisses, growls and chuffs.

Tigers have been studied in the wild using a variety of techniques. The populations of tigers were estimated in the past using plaster casts of their pugmarks. This method was criticized as being inaccurate.^[62] Attempts were made to use camera trapping instead. Newer techniques based on DNA from their scat are also being evaluated. Radio collaring has also been a popular approach to tracking them for study in the wild.

Hunting and diet

In the wild, tigers mostly feed on larger and medium sized animals. Sambar, gaur, chital, barasingha, wild boar, nilgai and both water buffalo and domestic buffalo are the tiger's favoured prey in India. Sometimes, they also prey on leopards, pythons, sloth bears and crocodiles. In Siberia the main prey species are manchurian wapiti, wild boar, sika deer, moose, roe deer, and musk deer. In Sumatra, sambar, muntjac, wild boar, and malayan tapir are preyed on. In the former Caspian tiger's range, prey included saiga antelope, camels, caucasian wisent, yak, and wild horses. Like many predators, they are opportunistic and will eat much smaller prey, such as monkeys, peafowls, hares, and fish.

Adult elephants are too large to serve as common prey, but conflicts between tigers and elephants do sometimes take place. A case where a tiger killed an adult Indian Rhinoceros has been observed. Young elephant and rhino calves are occasionally taken. Tigers also sometimes prey on domestic animals such as dogs, cows, horses, and donkeys. These individuals are termed cattle-lifters or cattle-killers in contrast to typical game-killers.^[63]

Old tigers, or those wounded and rendered incapable of catching their natural prey, have turned into man-eaters; this pattern has recurred frequently across India. An exceptional case is that of the Sundarbans, where healthy tigers prey upon fishermen and villagers in search of forest produce, humans thereby forming a minor part of the tiger's diet.^[64] Tigers will occasionally eat vegetation for dietary fiber, the fruit of the Slow Match Tree being favoured.^[63]

Tiger with kill

Tigers are thought to be nocturnal predators, hunting at night.^[65] However, in areas where humans are absent, they have been observed via remote controlled, hidden cameras hunting during the daylight hours.^[66] They generally hunt alone and ambush their prey as most other cats do, overpowering them from any angle, using their body size and strength to knock large prey off balance. Even with their great masses, tigers can reach speeds of about 49–65 kilometres per hour (35–40 miles per hour), although they can only do so in short bursts, since they have relatively little stamina; consequently, tigers must be relatively close to their prey before they break their cover. Tigers have great leaping ability; horizontal leaps of up to 10 metres have been reported, although leaps of around half this amount are more typical. However, only one in twenty hunts ends in a successful kill.^[65]

When hunting large prey, tigers prefer to bite the throat and use their forelimbs to hold onto the prey, bringing it to the ground. The tiger remains latched onto the neck until its prey dies of strangulation.^[15] By this method, gaurs and water buffalos weighing over a ton have been killed by tigers weighing about a sixth as much.^[67] With small prey, the tiger bites the nape, often breaking the spinal cord, piercing the windpipe, or severing the jugular vein or common carotid artery.^[68] Though rarely observed, some tigers have been recorded to kill prey by swiping with their paws, which are powerful enough to smash the skulls of domestic cattle,^[63] and break the backs of sloth bears.^[69]

During the 1980s, a tiger named "Genghis" in Ranthambhore National Park was observed frequently hunting prey through deep lake water,^[70] a pattern of behaviour that had not been previously witnessed in over 200 years of observations. Moreover, he appeared to be extraordinarily successful for a tiger, with as many as 20% of hunts ending in a kill.

Reproduction

A tigress with her cubs in the Kanha Tiger Reserve, India.

A Bengal tigress with her cubs at the Bandhavgarh National Park, India

Mating can occur all year round, but is generally more common between November and April.^[71] A female is only receptive for a few days and mating is frequent during that time period. A pair will copulate frequently and noisily, like other cats. The gestation period is 16 weeks. The litter size usually consists of around 3–4 cubs of about 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) each, which are born blind and helpless. The females rear them alone, sheltering them in dens such as thickets and rocky crevices. The father of the cubs generally takes no part in rearing them. Unrelated wandering male tigers may even kill cubs to make the female receptive, since the tigress may give birth to another litter within 5 months if the cubs of the previous litter are lost.^[71] The mortality rate of tiger cubs is fairly high – approximately half do not survive to be more than two years old.^[71]

There is generally a dominant cub in each litter, which tends to be male but may be of either sex.^[70] This cub generally dominates its siblings during play and tends to be more active, leaving its mother earlier than usual. At 8 weeks, the cubs are ready to follow their mother out of the den, although they do not travel with her as she roams her territory until they are older. The cubs become independent around 18 months of age, but it is not until they are around 2–2½ years old that they leave their mother. Females reach sexual maturity at 3–4 years, whereas males reach sexual maturity at 4–5 years.^[71]

Over the course of her life, a female tiger will give birth to an approximately equal number of male and female cubs. Tigers breed well in captivity, and the captive population in the United States may rival the wild population of the world.^[72]

Interspecific predatory relationships

Tiger hunted by wild dogs (dholes) as illustrated in Samuel Howett & Edward Orme, Hand Coloured, Aquatint Engravings, Published London 1807.

Tigers may kill such formidable predators as leopards, pythons and even crocodiles on occasion,^[73][74][75] although predators typically avoid one another. When seized by a crocodile, a tiger will strike at the reptile's eyes with its paws.^[63] Eighteenth century Physician Oliver Goldsmith described the frequent conflicts between mugger crocodiles and tigers that occurred during that time. Thirsty tigers would frequently descend to the rivers to drink and on occasion were seized and killed by the muggers, though more often the tiger escaped and the reptile was disabled.^[76] Leopards dodge competition from tigers by hunting in different times of the day and hunting different prey.^[77] With relatively abundant prey, tigers and leopards were seen to successfully coexist without competitive exclusion or inter-species dominance hierarchies that may be more common to the savanna.^[78] Tigers have been known to suppress wolf populations in areas where the two species coexist.^[79][80] Dhole packs have been observed to attack and kill tigers in disputes over food, though not usually without heavy losses.^[69] Lone golden jackals expelled from their pack have been known to form commensal relationships with tigers. These solitary jackals, known as kol-bahl, will attach themselves to a particular tiger, trailing it at a safe distance in order to feed on the big cat's kills. A kol-bahl will even alert a tiger to a kill with a loud pheal. Tigers have been known to tolerate these jackals: one report describes how a jackal confidently walked in and out between three tigers walking together a few feet away from each other.^[81] Siberian tigers and brown bears can be competitors and usually avoid confrontation; however, tigers will kill bear cubs and even some adults on occasion. Bears (Asiatic black bears and brown bears) make up 5–8% of the tiger's diet in the Russian Far East.^[5] There are also a few records of brown bears killing tigers, either in self defense or in disputes over kills.^[19] Some bears emerging from hibernation will try to steal tigers' kills, although the tiger will sometimes defend its kill. Sloth bears are quite aggressive and will sometimes drive young tigers away from their kills, although it is more common for Bengal tigers to prey on sloth bears.^[5]

Conservation efforts

Poaching for fur and destruction of habitat have greatly reduced tiger populations in the wild. At the start of the 20th century, it is estimated there were over 100,000 tigers in the world but the population has dwindled to between 1,500 and 3,500 in the wild.^[82] Demand for tiger parts for the purposes of Traditional Chinese Medicine has also been cited as a threat to tiger populations.^[83][84] Some estimates suggest that there are less than 2,500 mature breeding individuals, with no subpopulation containing more than 250 mature breeding individuals.^[1]

India

A Bengal tiger in a national park in southern India. Indian officials successfully reintroduced two Bengal tigers in the Sariska Tiger Reserve in July 2008.^[85]

India is home to the world's largest population of tigers in the wild.^[86] According to the World Wildlife Fund, of the 3,500 tigers around the world, 1,400 are found in India. Only 11% of original Indian tiger habitat remains, and it is becoming significantly fragmented and often degraded.^[87][88]

A major concerted conservation effort, known as Project Tiger, has been underway since 1973, initially spearheaded by Indira Gandhi. The fundamental accomplishment has been the establishment of over 25 well-monitored tiger reserves in reclaimed land where human development is categorically forbidden. The program has been credited with tripling the number of wild Bengal tigers from roughly 1,200 in 1973 to over 3,500 in the 1990s. However, a tiger census carried out in 2007, whose report was published on February 12, 2008, stated that the wild tiger population in India declined by 60% to approximately 1,411.^[89] It is noted in the report that the decrease of tiger population can be attributed directly to poaching.^[90]

An Indian Tiger at Guwahati Zoo in Assam, India.

Following the release of the report, the Indian government pledged $153 million to further fund the Project Tiger initiative, set up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers, and fund the relocation of up to 200,000 villagers to minimise human-tiger interaction.^[91] Additionally, eight new tiger reserves in India were set up.^[92] Indian officials successfully started a project to reintroduce the tigers into the Sariska Tiger Reserve.^[93] The Ranthambore National Park is often cited as a major success by Indian officials against poaching.^[94]

Tigers Forever is a collaboration between the Wildlife Conservation Society and Panthera Corporation to serve as both a science-based action plan and a business model to ensure that tigers live in the wild forever. Initial field sites of Tigers Forever include the world's largest tiger reserve, the 21,756 km² (8,400 sq mi) Hukaung Valley in Myanmar, the Western Ghats in India, Thailand's Huai Khai Khaeng-Thung Yai protected areas, and other sites in Laos PDR, Cambodia, the Russian Far East and China covering approximately 260,000 km² (100,000 sq mi) of critical tiger habitat.^[95]

Russia

Tiger headcount in 1990

The Siberian tiger was on the brink of extinction with only about 40 animals in the wild in the 1940s. Under the Soviet Union, anti-poaching controls were strict and a network of protected zones (zapovedniks) were instituted, leading to a rise in the population to several hundred. Poaching again became a problem in the 1990s, when the economy of Russia collapsed, local hunters had access to a formerly sealed off lucrative Chinese market, and logging in the region increased. While an improvement in the local economy has led to greater resources being invested in conservation efforts, an increase of economic activity has led to an increased rate of development and deforestation. The major obstacle in preserving the species is the enormous territory individual tigers require (up to 450 km² needed by a single female and more for a single male).^[96] Current conservation efforts are led by local governments and NGO's in consort with international organisations, such as the World Wide Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Society.^[97] The competitive exclusion of wolves by tigers has been used by Russian conservationists to convince hunters in the Far East to tolerate the big cats, as they limit ungulate populations less than wolves, and are effective in controlling the latter's numbers.^[98] Currently, there are about 400–550 animals in the wild.

Tibet

The trade in tiger skins is illegal in the People's Republic of China, of which Tibet is a part. However, the law banning the trade in endangered animal parts is not enforced in Tibet. An undercover investigation in 2000 by the Wildlife Protection Society of India produced much news about the tiger skin trade and pictures of Tibetans wearing tiger skins. The tigers poached for their skins, subsequent investigations found, originated in India, in a "highly sophisticated" smuggling operation that crossed through Nepal, that "had less to do with old customs than new money" and even attracted European tourists for the tiger skin products of Lhasa. When in 2005, officials in Tibet intercepted "32 tiger, 579 leopard and 665 otter skins", the 14th Dalai Lama called on exiled Tibetans, who are involved in the trade, to cease their activity.^[99] The 14th Dalai Lama had spoken out about wearing furs before, but he repeated his condemnation during the 2006 Kalachakra festival in India to expatriate Tibetans.^[100] Afterwards, the Dalai Lama issued a press release claiming to have received video of Tibetans burning their animal skin coats, and reports of arrests of eight Tibetans involved for conspiring with the Dalai Lama's government.^[101]

Population estimate

The global wild tiger population is estimated at anywhere between 3,062 and 3,948 individuals. The World Wide Fund for Nature estimates the tiger population at 3,200.^[102] The exact number of wild tigers is unknown, as many estimates are outdated or come from educated guesses. Few estimates are considered reliable, coming from comprehensive scientific censuses. The table shows estimates per country according to IUCN and range country governments.^[103]

Country	Estimate
Bangladesh	440
Bhutan	75
Cambodia	20
China	45
India	1,706
Indonesia	325
Laos	17
Malaysia	500
Myanmar	85
Nepal	155
North Korea	n/a
Russia	360
Thailand	200
Vietnam	20
Total	3,948

Rewilding

Origin

Although the term "rewilding" was used in conservation in other contexts since at least 1990,^[104] it was first applied to the restoration of a single species of carnivores by conservationist and ex-carnivore manager of Pilanesberg National Park, Gus Van Dyk in 2003.^{[citation needed]}

In 1978, the Indian conservationist Billy Arjan Singh attempted to rewild the tigress Tara in Dudhwa National Park that was born and reared in a zoo.^[105] This was soon followed by a large number of people being eaten by a tigress who was later shot. Government officials claim that this tigress was Tara, an assertion hotly contested by Singh and conservationists. Later on, this rewilding gained further disrepute when it was found that the local gene pool had been sullied by Tara's introduction as she was partly Siberian tiger, a fact not known at the time of release, ostensibly due to poor record-keeping at Twycross Zoo, where she had been raised.^{[106][107][108][109][110][111]}

Save China's Tigers

A South China tiger of the Save China's Tigers project with his blesbuck kill

The organisation Save China's Tigers, working with the Wildlife Research Centre of the State Forestry Administration of China and the Chinese Tigers South Africa Trust, secured an agreement on the reintroduction of Chinese tigers into the wild. The agreement, which was signed in Beijing on 26 November 2002, calls for the establishment of a Chinese tiger conservation model through the creation of a pilot reserve in China where indigenous wildlife, including the South China Tiger, will be reintroduced. Save China's Tigers aims to rewild the critically endangered South China Tiger by bringing a few captive-bred individuals to South Africa for rehabilitation training for them to regain their hunting instincts. At the same time, a pilot reserve in China is being set up and the Tigers will be relocated and release back in China when the reserve in China is ready.^[112] The offspring of the trained tigers will be released into the pilot reserves in China, while the original animals will stay in South Africa to continue breeding.^[113]

South Africa was chosen as a springboard thanks to its leadership in wildlife management, readily available land, and abundant game. SCT has also been working with the Chinese government to identify suitable sites for the establishment of pilot reserves in China. The South China Tigers of the project have since been successfully rewilded and are fully capable of hunting and surviving on their own.^[112] This project is also very successful in the breeding of these rewilded South China Tigers and 5 cubs have been born in the project, these cubs of the 2nd generation would be able to learn their survival skills from their successfully rewilded mothers directly.^[114]

Success story of rewilding

A rewilded South China Tiger of the Save China's Tigers rewilding project hunting blesbuck

Save China's Tigers' South China Tiger rewilding and reintroduction project has been deemed a success. Recently, renown scientists have confirmed the role of Rewilding captive populations to save the South China Tiger. A rewilding workshop conducted in the October 2010, in Laohu Valley reserve, South Africa to access the progress of the rewilding and reintroduction program of Save China's Tigers. The experts present includes Dr. Peter Crawshaw of Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservacão de Mamiferos Carnivoros, Cenap/ICMBIO, Dr. Gary Koehler, Dr. Laurie Marker of Cheetah Conservation Fund, Dr. Jim Sanderson of Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation, Dr. Nobuyuki Yamaguchi of Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences of Qatar University, and Dr. David Smith of Minnesota University, Chinese government scientists as well as representatives of Save China's Tigers.

The tigers involved, were born in captive conditions, in concrete cages and their parents are all captive animals who are unable to sustain in the wild. They were sent to South Africa as part of the Save China's Tigers project to rewilding and ensure that they regain the necessary skills needed for a predator to survive in the wild.

Results of the workshop confirmed the important role of the South China Tiger Rewilding Project in tiger conservation. ""Having seen the tigers hunting in an open environment at Laohu Valley Reserve, I believe that these rewilded tigers have the skill to hunt in any environment." Dr. David Smith remarked. Furthermore, Save China's Tigers recovered natural habitat both in China and in South Africa during their attempt to reintroduce South China Tigers back into the wild.^[115]

The goal is of preparing tigers born in captivity for introduction to wild habitat in China where tigers once lived seems to be very possible in the near future based on the success of the rewilding and reintroduction program.^[116]

Relation with humans

Tiger as prey

Tiger hunting on elephant-back, India, 1808.

Stereographic photograph (1903) of a captured man-eating tiger in the Calcutta zoo; the tiger had claimed 200 human victims.

The tiger has been one of the Big Five game animals of Asia. Tiger hunting took place on a large scale in the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries, being a recognised and admired sport by the British in colonial India as well as the maharajas and aristocratic class of the erstwhile princely states of pre-independence India. Tiger hunting was done by some hunters on foot; others sat up on machans with a goat or buffalo tied out as bait; yet others on elephant-back.^[117] In some cases, villagers beating drums were organised to drive the animals into the killing zone. Elaborate instructions were available for the skinning of tigers and there were taxidermists who specialised in the preparation of tiger skins.

Man-eating tigers

Although humans are not regular prey for tigers, they have killed more people than any other cat, particularly in areas where population growth, logging, and farming have put pressure on tiger habitats. Most man-eating tigers are old and missing teeth, acquiring a taste for humans because of their inability to capture preferred prey.^[118] Almost all tigers that are identified as man-eaters are quickly captured, shot, or poisoned. Unlike man-eating leopards, even established man-eating tigers will seldom enter human settlements, usually remaining at village outskirts.^[119] Nevertheless, attacks in human villages do occur.^[120] Man-eaters have been a particular problem in India and Bangladesh, especially in Kumaon, Garhwal and the Sundarbans mangrove swamps of Bengal, where some healthy tigers have been known to hunt humans. Because of rapid habitat loss due to climate change, tiger attacks have increased in the Sundarbans.^[121]

A female tiger Tatiana escaped from her enclosure in the San Francisco Zoo, killing one person and seriously injuring two more before being shot and killed by the police. The enclosure had walls that were lower than they were legally required to be, allowing the tiger to climb the wall and escape.

Traditional Asian medicine

Many people in China have a belief that various tiger parts have medicinal properties, including as pain killers and aphrodisiacs.^[122] There is no scientific evidence to support these beliefs. The use of tiger parts in pharmaceutical drugs in China is already banned, and the government has made some offenses in connection with tiger poaching punishable by death. Furthermore, all trade in tiger parts is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and a domestic trade ban has been in place in China since 1993. Still, there are a number of tiger farms in the country specialising in breeding the cats for profit. It is estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 captive-bred, semi-tame animals live in these farms today.^{[123][124][125]}

In captivity

In recent years, captive breeding of tigers in China has accelerated to the point where the captive population of several tiger subspecies exceeds 4,000 animals. Three thousand specimens are reportedly held by 10–20 "significant" facilities, with the remainder scattered among some 200 facilities. This makes China home to the second largest captive tiger population in the world, after the USA, which in 2005 had an estimated 4,692 captive tigers.^[126] In a census conducted by the US based Feline Conservation Federation in 2011, 2,884 tigers were documented as residing in 468 American facilities.^[127]

Part of the reason for America's large tiger population relates to legislation. Only nineteen states have banned private ownership of tigers, fifteen require only a license, and sixteen states have no regulations at all.^[128] The success of breeding programmes at American zoos and circuses led to an overabundance of cubs in the 1980s and 1990s, which drove down prices for the animals. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas estimate there are now 500 lions, tigers and other big cats in private ownership just in the Houston, Texas.^{[verification needed]} A private zoo in Zanesville, Ohio owned 18 Bengal tigers, all of which were shot dead by Ohio authorities after their owner released them, along with many other dangerous animals, before committing suicide on October 18, 2011.

Genetic ancestry of 105 captive tigers from 14 countries and regions was assessed by using Bayesian analysis and diagnostic genetic markers defined by a prior analysis of 134 voucher tigers of significant genetic distinctiveness. Of the 105 captive tigers, 49 specimen were assigned to one of five subspecies; 52 specimen had admixed subspecies origins.^[129]

The Tiger Species Survival Plan devised by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums has condemned the breeding of white tigers on the allegation that they are of mixed ancestry, hybridized with other subspecies and are of unknown lineage. The genes responsible for white colour are represented by 0.001% of the population. The disproportionate growth in numbers of white tigers points to the relentless inbreeding resorted to among homozygous recessive individuals for selectively multiplying the white animals. This progressively increasing process will eventually lead to inbreeding depression and loss of genetic variability.^[130]

Cultural depictions

19th century painting of a tiger by Kuniyoshi Utagawa.

The Bengal tiger is the national animal of India and Bangladesh.^[8] The Malaysian tiger is the national animal of Malaysia.^[131] The Siberian Tiger is the national animal of South Korea.

The tiger replaces the lion as King of the Beasts in cultures of eastern Asia representing royalty, fearlessness and wrath.^[132] Its forehead has a marking which resembles the Chinese character 王, which means "king"; consequently, many cartoon depictions of tigers in China and Korea are drawn with 王 on their forehead.

Of great importance in Chinese myth and culture, the tiger is one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. Also in various Chinese art and martial art, the tiger is depicted as an earth symbol and equal rival of the Chinese dragon - the two representing matter and spirit respectively. In fact, the Southern Chinese martial art Hung Ga is based on the movements of the Tiger and the Crane. In Imperial China, a tiger was the personification of war and often represented the highest army general (or present day defense secretary),^[132] while the emperor and empress were represented by a dragon and phoenix, respectively. The White Tiger (Chinese: 白虎; pinyin: Bái Hǔ) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the White Tiger of the West (西方白虎), and it represents the west and the autumn season.^[132]

In Buddhism, it is also one of the Three Senseless Creatures, symbolising anger, with the monkey representing greed and the deer lovesickness.^[132]

Goddess Durga riding a tiger

The Tungusic people considered the Siberian tiger a near-deity and often referred to it as "Grandfather" or "Old man". The Udege and Nanai called it "Amba". The Manchu considered the Siberian tiger as Hu Lin, the king.^[18]

The widely worshiped Hindu goddess Durga, an aspect of Devi-Parvati, is a ten-armed warrior who rides the tigress (or lioness) Damon into battle. In southern India the god Ayyappan was associated with a tiger.^[133]

The weretiger replaces the werewolf in shapeshifting folklore in Asia;^[134] in India they were evil sorcerers while in Indonesia and Malaysia they were somewhat more benign.^[135]

The tiger continues to be a subject in literature; both Rudyard Kipling, in The Jungle Book, and William Blake, in Songs of Experience, depict the tiger as a menacing and fearful animal. In The Jungle Book, the tiger, Shere Khan, is the wicked mortal enemy of the protagonist, Mowgli. However, other depictions are more benign: Tigger, the tiger from A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories, is cuddly and likable. In the Man Booker Prize winning novel "Life of Pi", the protagonist, Pi Patel, sole human survivor of a ship wreck in the Pacific Ocean, befriends another survivor: a large Bengal Tiger. The famous comic strip Calvin and Hobbes features Calvin and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes. A tiger is also featured on the cover of the popular cereal Frosted Flakes (also marketed as "Frosties") bearing the name "Tony the Tiger".

World's favourite animal

In a poll conducted by Animal Planet, the tiger was voted the world's favourite animal, narrowly beating the dog. More than 50,000 viewers from 73 countries voted in the poll. Tigers received 21% of the vote, dogs 20%, dolphins 13%, horses 10%, lions 9%, snakes 8%, followed by elephants, chimpanzees, orangutans and whales.^{[136][137][138][139]}

Animal behaviourist Candy d'Sa, who worked with Animal Planet on the list, said: "We can relate to the tiger, as it is fierce and commanding on the outside, but noble and discerning on the inside".^[136]

Callum Rankine, international species officer at the World Wildlife Federation conservation charity, said the result gave him hope. "If people are voting tigers as their favourite animal, it means they recognise their importance, and hopefully the need to ensure their survival," he said.^[136]

See also

• 21st Century Tiger, information about tigers and conservation projects
• List of solitary animals
• Siegfried & Roy, two famous tamers of tigers
• Tiger in Chinese culture
• Tiger Temple, a Buddhist temple in Thailand famous for its tame tigers
• Tiger versus lion

Cited references

References

• Brakefield, T. (1993). Big cats kingdom of might, Voyageur press.
• Dr. Tony Hare. (2001) Animal Habitats P. 172 ISBN 0-8160-4594-1
• Kothari, Ashok S. & Chhapgar, Boman F. (eds). 2005. The Treasures of Indian Wildlife. Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press, Mumbai.
• Mazák, V. (1981). Panthera tigris. (PDF). Mammalian Species, 152: 1–8. American Society of Mammalogists.
• Nowak, Ronald M. (1999) Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
• Sankhala, K. (1997). Der indische Tiger und sein Reich. Bechtermuenz Verlag. ISBN 3-86047-734-X.  Abridged German translation of Return of the Tiger, Lustre Press, 1993.
• Seidensticker, John. (1999) Riding the Tiger. Tiger Conservation in Human-dominated Landscapes Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-64835-1

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White tigers are a kind of tiger whose fur is white or almost white. This coloration is caused by a recessive gene. White tigers have been known to inhabit many parts of East Asia, including India and China. However, their current range has been much reduced due to over-hunting of their pelts.

Compared to orange tigers without the white gene, white tigers tend to be larger both at birth and at full adult size.^[4] This may have given them an advantage in the wild despite their unusual coloration. Heterozygous orange tigers also tend to be larger than other orange tigers. Kailash Sankhala, the director of the New Delhi Zoo in the 1960s, said "one of the functions of the white gene may have been to keep a size gene in the population, in case it's ever needed."^[5]

Dark-striped white individuals are well-documented in the Bengal Tiger subspecies, also known as the Royal Bengal or Indian tiger, (Panthera tigris tigris or P. t. bengalensis), may also have occurred in captive Siberian Tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), and may have been reported historically in several other subspecies. White pelage is most closely associated with the Bengal, or Indian subspecies. Currently, several hundred white tigers are in captivity worldwide with about 100 of them in India, and their numbers are on the increase. The modern population includes both pure Bengals and hybrid Bengal–Siberians, but it is unclear whether the recessive gene for white came only from Bengals, or from any of the Siberian ancestors as well.

The unusual coloration of white tigers has made them popular in zoos and entertainment that showcases exotic animals. The magicians Siegfried & Roy are famous for having bred and trained two white tigers for their performances, referring to them as "royal white tigers" perhaps from the white tiger's association with the Maharaja of Rewa. The exotic-tiger performance trio of Ron Holiday, Joy Holiday and Chuck Lizza—subjects of the HBO documentary film Cat Dancers—worked with a white tiger which ended up killing two of them.

White tigers in the wild

Two white Bengals at the Singapore Zoo.

An article appeared in the Miscellaneous Notes of the Journal Of The Bombay Natural History Society on November 15, 1909, which reported that a white tigress was shot in the Mulin Sub-Division Forest of the Dhenkanal State in Orissa. The report originally appeared in the Indian Forester in May 1909, and was made by Mr. Bavis Singh, Forest Officer. The ground colour of the white tigress was described as pure white and the stripes as deep reddish-black. It was shot over a buffalo kill and "was in good condition not showing any signs of disease." Col. F.T. Pollock wrote in Wild Sports of Burma and Assam, "Occasionally white tigers are met with. I saw a magnificent skin of one at Edwin Wards in Wimpole Street, and Mr. Shadwall, Assistant Commissioner in Cossyah and Jynteah Hills, also has two skins quite white." Mr. Lydekker wrote in Game Animals of India (1907) about five more white tiger skins: "A white tiger was exhibited alive at Exeter Change about 1820; a second was killed in Poona about 1892; in March 1899, a white tiger was shot in Upper Assam and the skin sent to Calcutta, where a fourth specimen was received about the same time. The Maharaja of Kuch-Behar also possesses a white tiger-skin."^[6] The white tiger exhibited at Exeter Change in London in 1820 was the first white tiger in Europe.

S.H. Prater wrote in The book of Indian Animals (1948) that "White or partially white tigers are not uncommon in some of the dry open jungles of central India."^[7] It is a myth that white tigers did not thrive in the wild. India planned to reintroduce captive-bred white tigers to the wild to a special reserve near Rewa.^[8] In the wild, white tigers reproduced and bred for generations. A.A. Dunbar Brander wrote in Wild animals in central India (1923) that "White tigers occasionally occur. There is a regular breed of these animals in the neighborhood of Amarkantak at the junction of the Rewa state and the Mandla and Bilaspur districts. When I was last in Mandla in 1919, a white tigress and two three parts grown white cubs existed. In 1915 a male was trapped by the Rewa state and confined. An excellent description of the animal, by Mr. Scott of the Indian police, has been published in Vol. XXVII No. 47 of the Bombay Natural History Society's journal."^[9]

The previously mentioned article from The Journal Of The Bombay Natural History Society "Miscellaneous Notes: No. 1-A WHITE TIGER IN CAPTIVITY (with a photo)" states that "The white tiger in captivity in Rewa was caught in December 1915 in the jungles of the State near Sohagpur. He was about two years of age at the time. There were two more white tigers in Southern Rewa related to this tiger but it was believed that the mother of this animal was not white... A white tiger was killed by a Sardar in Sohargpur Tahasil, Southern Rewa, about 10 or 12 years ago. Two other tigers appeared in the beat near Shahdol and Annuppur, B.N.Ry., but His late Highness' orders were that these should not be shot. The one at Annuppur (Bhilam Dungari Jungle) was said to be the brother of the one in captivity. These white tigers roam in the neighboring British Districts of the Central Provinces and seem to be living in the Maikal ranges of mountains." There is ample evidence that white tigers survived as adults in the wild.^[10][11] There were reports of white tigers from Burma and the Jynteah Hills of Meghalaya made by Pollock in the 1900s. Between 1892 and 1922, white tigers were shot in Poona, Upper Assam, Orissa, Balispur, and Cooch Behar. White tigers were shot in different regions in the 1920s and 1930s. Fifteen were shot in Bihar in this same time period. Trophies are on display in the Calcutta Museum and at Mica Camp, Tisri, in Bihar. There are more records of white tigers in Rowland Ward's Records of Big Game.

Victor H. Cahalane reported white tigers in northern China in 1943: "...north China has produced a number of albinos, with the inevitable faint brown stripe. Very rare melanistic (black) tigers are known."^[12] However, white tigers are not albinos. These tigers were white individuals of the Amur tiger subspecies (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as the Siberian tiger. White tigers were reported in northern China and Korea.^[13][14] White tigers have cultural significance in both countries. They are also part of the folklore on Sumatra and Java.

Jim Corbett filmed a white tigress in the wild which had two orange cubs. This film footage was used in the 1984 National Geographic movie Man Eaters Of India, which is based on Jim Corbett's 1957 book by the same title. This is further proof that white tigers survived and reproduced in the wild. The website of the Bandhavgarh National Park, in the former princely state of Rewa, in Madhya Pradesh, features pictures of white tigers, and states "The forests of Bandhavgarh are the white tiger jungles of yesteryears." Today, there are 46 to 52 orange tigers living in Bandhavgarh, the largest population of tigers in any national park in India.^[15]

White Siberian Tigers

The existence of pure white Siberian tigers has not been scientifically proven, despite occasional reports of sightings of white tigers in the regions where wild Siberian tigers live. It is quite possible that the gene for white coating does not exist in the Siberian tiger population, since no pure white Siberian tigers have been born in captivity even though the Siberian tiger has been extensively bred during the last few decades. The wild Siberian tiger population nearly went extinct during the middle of the 20th century, so it is also possible that the Siberian tigers carrying the gene for white coating died out during this period. More research is necessary before scientists can fully understand the genetic make up of the Siberian tiger.

The famous white Siberian tigers found in captivity are actually not pure Siberian tigers. They are instead the result of Siberian tigers breeding with Bengal tigers. The gene for white coating is quite common among Bengal tigers, but the natural birth of a white Bengal tiger is still a very rare occasion in the wild, where white tigers are not bred selectively. A white tiger is caused by the occurrence of a double recessive allele in the genome. Estimations show that around one in 10,000 wild tiger births will result in a white tiger.

The white tiger is not considered a tiger subspecies, but rather a mutant variant of the existing tiger subspecies. If a pure white Siberian tiger were to be born, it would therefore not be selectively bred within the tiger conservation programs. It would, however, probably still be selectively bred outside the program in an effort to create more white Siberian tigers. Due to the popularity of white tigers, they are used to attract visitors to zoos and will hopefully help raise awareness about all tigers and their situation.

Stripeless white tigers and golden tabby tigers

A nearly stripeless tiger on display at The Mirage

An additional genetic condition can remove most of the striping of a white tiger, making the animal almost pure white. One such specimen was exhibited at Exeter Change in England in 1820, and described by Georges Cuvier as "A white variety of Tiger is sometimes seen, with the stripes very opaque, and not to be observed except in certain angles of light."^[16] Naturalist Richard Lydekker said that, "a white tiger, in which the fur was of a creamy tint, with the usual stripes faintly visible in certain parts, was exhibited at the old menagerie at Exeter Change about the year 1820."^[17] Hamilton Smith said, "A wholly white tiger, with the stripe-pattern visible only under reflected light, like the pattern of a white tabby cat, was exhibited in the Exeter Change Menagerie in 1820.", and John George Wood stated that, "a creamy white, with the ordinary tigerine stripes so faintly marked that they were only visible in certain lights." Edwin Henry Landseer also drew this tigress in 1824.

The modern strain of snow white tigers came from repeated brother–sister matings of Bhim and Sumita at Cincinnati Zoo. The gene involved may have come from a Siberian tiger, via their part-Siberian ancestor Tony. Continued inbreeding appears to have caused a recessive gene for stripelessness to show up. About one fourth of Bhim and Sumita's offspring were stripeless. Their striped white offspring, which have been sold to zoos around the world, may also carry the stripeless gene. Because Tony's genome is present in many white tiger pedigrees, the gene may also be present in other captive white tigers. As a result, stripeless white tigers have appeared in zoos as far afield as the Czech Republic, Spain and Mexico. Stage magicians Siegfried & Roy were the first to attempt to selectively breed tigers for stripelessness; they owned snow-white Bengal tigers taken from Cincinnati Zoo (Tsumura, Mantra, Mirage and Akbar-Kabul) and Guadalajara, Mexico (Vishnu and Jahan), as well as a stripeless Siberian tiger called Apollo.^[18]

In 2004, a blue-eyed, stripeless white tiger was born in a wildlife refuge in Alicante, Spain. Its parents are normal orange Bengals. The cub was named Artico ("Arctic").

Stripeless white tigers were thought to be sterile until Siegfried & Roy's stripeless white tigress Sitarra, a daughter of Bhim and Sumita, gave birth. Another variation which came out of the white strains were unusually light-orange tigers called "golden tabby tigers". These are probably orange tigers which carry the stripeless white gene as a recessive. Some white tigers in India are very dark, between white and orange.

Genetics and albinism

A white tiger in captivity at a zoo. The presence of stripes indicates it is not a true albino.

White tigers at Singapore zoo

A white tiger's pale coloration is caused by the presence of a recessive gene. Another genetic characteristic makes the stripes of the tiger very pale; white tigers of this type are called snow-white or "pure white". White tigers are not albinos and do not constitute a separate subspecies of their own and can breed with orange ones, although (approx.) half of the resulting offspring will be heterozygous for the recessive white gene, and their fur will be orange. The only exception would be if the orange parent was itself already a heterozygous tiger, which would give each cub a 50% chance of being either double-recessive white or heterozygous orange. If two heterozygous tigers, or heterozygotes, breed on average 25% of their offspring will be white, 50% will be heterozygous orange (white gene carriers) and 25% will be homozygous orange, with no white genes. In the 1970s a pair of heterozygous orange tigers named Sashi and Ravi produced 13 cubs in Alipore Zoo, of which 3 were white.^[19] If two white tigers breed, 100% of their cubs will be homozygous white tigers. A tiger which is homozygous for the white gene may also be heterozygous or homozygous for many different genes. The question of whether a tiger is heterozygous (a heterozygote) or homozygous (a homozygote) depends on the context of which gene is being discussed. Inbreeding promotes homozygosity and has been used as a strategy to produce white tigers.

Contrary to popular belief, white tigers are not albinos; true albino tigers would have no stripes. Even the "stripeless" white tigers known today actually have very pale stripes.

Part of the confusion is due to the misidentification of the so-called chinchilla gene (for white) as an allele of the albino series (publications prior to the 1980s refer to it as an albino gene). The mutation is recessive to normal colour, which means that two orange tigers carrying the mutant gene may produce white offspring, and white tigers bred together will produce only white cubs. The stripe colour varies due to the influence and interaction of other genes.

While the inhibitor ("chinchilla") gene affects the colour of the hair shaft, there is a separate "wide-band" gene affecting the distance between the dark bands of colour on agouti hairs.^[20] An orange tiger who inherits two copies of this wide-band gene becomes a golden tabby; a white who inherits two copies becomes almost or completely stripeless. Inbreeding allows the effect of recessive genes to show up, hence the ground and stripe colour variations among white tigers.

As early as 1907, naturalist Richard Lydeker doubted the existence of albino tigers.^[21] However, we do have a report of true albinism: in 1922, two pink-eyed albino cubs were shot along with their mother at Mica Camp, Tisri, in the Cooch Behar district, according to Victor N. Narayan in a ”Miscellaneous Note” in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. The albinos were described as sickly-looking sub-adults, with extended necks and pink eyes.

White tigers, Siamese cats, and Himalayan rabbits have enzymes in their fur which react to temperature, causing them to grow darker in the cold. A white tiger named Mohini was whiter than her relatives in the Bristol Zoo, who showed more cream tones. This may have been because she spent less time outdoors in the winter.^[22] White tigers produce a mutated form of tyrosinase, an enzyme used in the production of melanin, which only functions at certain temperatures (below 98° Fahrenheit). This is why Siamese cats and Himalayan rabbits are darker on their faces, ears, legs, and tails (the colour points), where the cold penetrates more easily. This is called acromelanism, and other cats breeds derived from the Siamese, such as the Himalayan and the snowshoe cat, also exhibit the condition.^[23] K.S. Sankhala, who was director of the New Delhi Zoo in the 1960s, observed that white tigers were always whiter in Rewa, even when they were born in New Delhi and returned there. "In spite of living in a dusty courtyard, they were always snow white."^[8] A weakened immune system is directly linked to reduced pigmentation in white tigers.

Genetic issues

Outside of India, white tigers have been prone to crossed eyes, a condition known as strabismus, an example of which is "Clarence the cross-eyed lion",^[24] due to incorrectly routed visual pathways in the brains of white tigers. When stressed or confused, all white tigers cross their eyes, according to tiger trainer Andy Goldfarb. Strabismus is associated with white tigers of mixed Bengal/Siberian ancestry. The only pure-Bengal white tiger reported to be cross-eyed was Mohini's daughter Rewati. Strabismus is directly linked to the white gene and is not a separate consequence of inbreeding.^[25][26][27] The orange littermates of white tigers are not prone to strabismus. Siamese cats and albinos of every species which have been studied all exhibit the same visual pathway abnormality found in white tigers. Siamese cats are also sometimes cross-eyed, as are some albino ferrets. The visual pathway abnormality was first documented in white tigers in the brain of a white tiger called Moni after he died, although his eyes were of normal alignment. The abnormality is that there is a disruption in the optic chiasm. The examination of Moni's brain suggested the disruption is less severe in white tigers than it is in Siamese cats. Because of the visual pathway abnormality, by which some of the optic nerves are routed to the wrong side of the brain, white tigers have a problem with spatial orientation, and bump into things until they learn to compensate. Some tigers compensate by crossing their eyes. When the neurons pass from the retina to the brain and reach the optic chiasma, some cross and some do not, so that visual images are projected to the wrong hemisphere of the brain. White tigers cannot see as well as normal tigers and suffer from photophobia, like albinos.^[28]

There is a 450 lbs. male cross-eyed white tiger, named Namaste, at the Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo in Hawaii, which was donated to the zoo by Las Vegas magician Dirk Arthur.^[29] There is a picture of a white tiger which appears to be cross-eyed on just one side in Siegfried & Roy's book "Mastering The Impossible". A white tiger, named Scarlett O'Hara, who was Tony's sister, was cross-eyed only on the right side. Scarlett was the only one of three white tigers born at Kingdoms 3, the Henry County, Georgia animal park in June 1977 to survive. Scarlett was to have undergone an operation to tighten and loosen two muscles to turn the eye straight, which is a fairly routine operation in humans. She was sent to the Grady Memorial Hospital's animal research clinic in Atlanta. Her owner, Baron Julius Von Uhl, was the lion tamer at the park, and his ophthalmologist was to perform the surgery.^[30] Scarlett had an adverse reaction to the anaesthesia and died. The Atlanta Zoo veterinarian Morton Silberman said "There is always a chance of there being other genetic defects" and some of these could have effected her ability to withstand anaesthesia.^[31] Tiger trainer Alan Gold said that attempts to correct crossed eyes in white tigers through surgery have been unsuccessful because the problem is not in their eyes, it's in their brain. White tigers with crossed eyes are not always born that way; they may develop the condition later in life. Ika, one of the male white tigers from Kesari's 1976 litter, was not cross-eyed as a cub. He developed strabismus later on. Rewati was also not cross-eyed as a cub. Cincinnati Zoo director Ed Maruska commented on white tigers having crossed eyes: "In 52 white tiger births, there were four cases of strabismus, all from the four white offspring of Kesari and Tony. Bhim and Sumita (siblings) were retained and all of their offspring had normal set eyes except one male from their first litter. Because strabismus is of rare occurrence and probably linked to the white coat gene, it is probable that it might be further reduced or even eliminated by selective breeding."^[32]

A male white tiger named Cheytan, a son of Bhim and Sumita born at the Cincinnati Zoo, died at the San Antonio Zoo in 1992 from anaesthesia complications during a root canal. It appears that white tigers also react strangely to anaesthesia. The best drug for immobilizing a tiger is CI 744, but a few tigers, white ones in particular, undergo a re-sedation effect 24–36 hours later.^[33] This is due to their inability to produce normal tyrosinase, a trait they share with albinos, according to zoo veterinarian David Taylor. He treated a pair of white tigers from the Cincinnati Zoo at Fritz Wurm's safari park in Stukenbrock, Germany, for salmonella poisoning, which reacted strangely to the anaesthesia.^[34]

Mohini was checked for Chédiak-Higashi syndrome in 1960, but the results were inconclusive.^[35][36] This condition is similar to albino mutations and causes bluish lightening of the fur colour, crossed eyes, and prolonged bleeding after surgery. Also, in the event of an injury, the blood is slow to coagulate. This condition has been observed in domestic cats, but there has never been a case of a white tiger having Chédiak-Higashi syndrome. There has been a single case of a white tiger having central retinal degeneration, reported from the Milwaukee County Zoo, which could be related to reduced pigmentation in the eye.^[36][37] The white tiger in question was a male named Mota on loan from the Cincinnati Zoo.

There is a myth, that white tigers have an 80% infant mortality rate. However, the infant mortality rate for white tigers is no higher than it is for normal orange tigers bred in captivity. Cincinnati Zoo director Ed Maruska said: "We have not experienced premature death among our white tigers. Forty-two animals born in our collection are still alive. Mohan, a large white tiger, died just short of his 20th birthday, an enviable age for a male of any subspecies, since most males live shorter captive lives. Premature deaths in other collections may be artifacts of captive environmental conditions... In 52 births we had four stillbirths, one of which was an unexplained loss. We lost two additional cubs from viral pneumonia, which is not excessive. Without data from non-inbred tiger lines, it is difficult to determine whether this number is high or low with any degree of accuracy."^[38] Ed Maruska also addressed the issue of deformities: "Other than a case of hip dysplasia that occurred in a male white tiger, we have not encountered any other body deformities or any physiological or neurological disorders. Some of these reported maladies in mutant tigers in other collections may be a direct result of inbreeding or improper rearing management of tigers generally."^[39]

Other genetic problems include shortened tendons of the forelegs, club foot , kidney problems, arched or crooked backbone and twisted neck. Reduced fertility and miscarriages, noted by ”tiger man” Kailash Sankhala in pure-Bengal white tigers were attributed to inbreeding depression.^[8] A condition known as "star-gazing", which is associated with inbreeding in big cats, has also been reported in white tigers.^[40] Some of the white tigers born to North American lines have bulldog faces with a snub nose, jutting jaw, domed head and wide-set eyes with an indentation between the eyes. However, some of these traits may be linked to poor diet rather than inbreeding.

Inbreeding and outcrossing

White tiger at the ZooParc de Beauval in France

Because of the extreme rarity of the white tiger allele in the wild,^[8] the breeding pool was limited to the small number of white tigers in captivity. According to Kailash Sankhala, the last white tiger ever seen in the wild was shot in 1958.^[8][41][42] Today, there is such a large number of white tigers in captivity that inbreeding is no longer necessary. A white Amur tiger may have been born at Center Hill and has given rise to a strain of white Amur tigers. The white tiger pictured on the right is at the ZooParc de Beauval in France, and came from Center Hill. A man named Robert Baudy realized that his tigers had white genes when a tiger he sold to Marwell Zoo in England developed white spots, and bred them accordingly.^[43] The Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa Bay has four of these white Amur tigers, descended from Robert Baudy's stock.

White tiger at the New Delhi Zoo

It has also been possible to expand the white-gene pool by outcrossing white tigers with unrelated orange tigers and then using the cubs to produce more white tigers. The white tigers Ranjit, Bharat, Priya and Bhim were all outcrossed, in some instances to more than one tiger. Bharat was bred to an unrelated orange tiger named Jack from the San Francisco Zoo and had an orange daughter named Kanchana.^[44] Bharat and Priya were also bred with an unrelated orange tiger from Knoxville Zoo, and Ranjit was bred to this tiger's sister, also from Knoxville Zoo. Bhim fathered several litters with an unrelated orange tigress named Kimanthi at the Cincinnati Zoo. Ranjit had several mates at the Omaha Zoo.^[45]

The last descendants of Bristol Zoo's white tigers were a group of orange tigers from outcrosses which were bought by a Pakistani senator and shipped to Pakistan. Rajiv, Pretoria Zoo's white tiger, who was born in the Cincinnati Zoo, was also outcrossed and sired at least two litters of orange cubs at Pretoria Zoo. Outcrossing is not necessarily done with the intent of producing more white cubs by resuming inbreeding further down the line.

White tiger at the Miami Metrozoo

Outcrossing is a way of bringing fresh blood into the white strain. The New Delhi Zoo loaned out white tigers to some of India's better zoos for outcrossing, and the government had to impose a whip to force zoos to return either the white tigers or their orange offspring.
Siegfried & Roy performed at least one outcross.^[46] In the mid-1980s they offered to work with the Indian government in the creation of a healthier strain of white tigers. The Indian government reportedly considered the offer;^[47] however, India had a moratorium on breeding white tigers after cubs were born at New Delhi Zoo with arched backs and clubbed feet, necessitating euthanasia.^[48] Siegfried & Roy have bred white tigers in collaboration with the Nashville Zoo and they appeared on Larry King with white tiger cubs born at said zoo.

Historical records

White tiger sleeping at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, Louisiana

In Rewa, hunters' diaries recorded 9 white tigers in the fifty years prior to 1960. The Journal of The Bombay Natural History Society reported 17 white tigers shot between 1907 and 1933. E.P. Gee collected accounts of 35 white tigers from the wild up to 1959, with still more uncounted from Assam where he had his tea plantation, although Assam, with its humid jungles, was considered a likelier haunt for black tigers by Gee. Some white tigers in the wild had reddish stripes, and were known as "red tigers." The Boga-bagh, or "white tiger," Tea Estate in upper Assam, was named that after two white tigers were shot there in the early 1900s. Arthur Locke writing in "The Tigers Of Trengganu" (1954) mentions white tigers.

In some regions, the animal is part of local tradition. In China, it was revered as the god of the West, Baihu (Byakko in Japan and Baek-ho in Korea), associated with autumn and metal. In South Korea, a white tiger is represented on the taegeuk emblem on the flag – the white tiger symbolising evil, opposite the green dragon for good. In Indian superstition, the white tiger was the incarnation of a Hindu deity, and anyone who killed it would die within a year. Sumatran and Javan royalty claimed descent from white tigers, and the animals were regarded as the reincarnations of royalty. In Java, the white tiger was associated with the vanished Hindu kingdoms and with ghosts and spirits. It was also the icon guardian of the seventeenth century court.

White tigers with dark stripes were recorded in the wild in India during the Mughal Empire (1556–1605). A painting from 1590 of Akbar hunting near Gwalior depicts four tigers, two of which appear white.^[11] As many as 17 instances of white tigers were recorded in India between 1907 and 1933 in several separate locations: Orissa, Bilaspur, Sohagpur and Rewa. On January 22, 1939, the Prime Minister of Nepal shot a white tiger at Barda camp in Terai, Nepal. The last observed wild white tiger was shot in 1958, and the mutation is believed to be extinct in the wild.^[8] There have been rumors of white tigers in the wild in India since then, but none have been considered credible. It has been suggested from the casual way that Jim Corbett makes reference to a white tigress, which he filmed with two orange cubs, in his "Man-Eaters of Kumaon"^[49] that white tigers were nothing out of the ordinary to him. Corbett's black and white film footage is probably the only film in existence of a white tiger in the wild. It illustrates again that white tigers survived and reproduced in the wild. The film was used in a National Geographic docu-drama "Man-eaters of India", about Corbett's life, based on his 1957 book by the same title. One theory of white tigers holds that they were symptomatic of inbreeding as a consequence of over hunting and habitat loss, as tiger populations became isolated. In 1965, there was a chair upholstered with a white tiger skin in the "India collection" of Marjorie Merriweather Post, at her Hillwood estate in Washington D.C., which is now operated as a museum. A color photograph of this item appeared in the November 5, 1965 issue of Life magazine.^[50] In the October 1975 issue of National Geographic, there is a photograph of the minister of defense for the United Arab Emirates with a stuffed white tiger in his office.^[51] The actor Cesar Romero owned a white tiger skin.

Popular culture

White tigers appear frequently in literature, video games, television and comic books. Such examples include the Swedish rock band Kent, which featured a white tiger on the cover of their best-selling album Vapen & ammunition in 2002. This was a tribute to the band's home town Eskilstuna, as the local zoo in town had white tigers from the Hawthorn Circus as its main attraction. The white tiger has also been featured in the video for the song "Human" by the popular American synth-rock band The Killers. White Tiger is also the name of an American glam metal band from the 1980s.

Aravind Adiga's novel, "The White Tiger", won the Man Booker Prize in 2008. The central character and narrator refers to himself as "The White Tiger". It was a nickname given to him as a child to denote that he was unique in the "jungle" (his hometown), that he was smarter than the others.

Games including white tigers include Zoo Tycoon and the Warcraft universe. Both the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and the Japanese Super Sentai series from which the Power Rangers series are based have used White Tiger themed mecha. The White Ranger from Power Rangers: Wild Force and its Sentai counterpart also has the powers of the White Tiger, as well as the White Tiger-themed mecha.

A trained white tiger from the Bowmanville Zoo in Ontario, Canada, was used in the Animorphs TV series. White Tigers are also seen in Heroes of Might and Magic IV, where they are a lvl 2 unit for the nature team. Even White Tiger and The Justice Friends were on Dexter's Laboratory, and a white tiger named White Blaze is frequently shown in the anime Ronin Warriors. White Tigers are featured as a wild, tamable "pet" companion in Guild Wars Factions. Finally, the popularity of white tigers has led private users to create mods or game patches for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion which changes the Khajit species to possess white tiger aspects, including realistic height and body sizes in relation to the standard orange Khajit.

Other popular culture mentions include the Beast Wars character Tigatron who transformed into a white tiger, the White Tiger comic book hero and also the outstanding former member of the Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team Darren "White Tiger" Kent. In the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, white tigers are seen fighting for the White Witch.

See also

• Outbreeding depression
• Captive white tigers

References

• Park, Edwards "Around The Mall And Beyond." Smithsonian September 1979
• Reed, Elizabeth C., "White Tiger In My House." National Geographic May 1970
• "Genetic abnormality of the visual pathways in a "white" tiger" R.W. Guillery and J.H. Kaas Science June 22, 1973
• "Cross-eyed tigers" Scientific American 229:43 August 1973
• "Now He's The Cat's Meow" Dan Geringer Sports Illustrated Vol. 65 No. July 3, 21, 1986
• "Here Kitty Kitty: Cincinnati Zoo Breeds Five Rare White Tigers" People Weekly 21:97-9 January 23, 1984
• "White Tiger: An Indian Maharaja Is Trying To Sell His Rare Cub To A U.S. Zoo." Life 31:69 October 15, 1951
• "White Tiger From India" Life 49: 47-8 December 19, 1960
• "Grrr! Ownership of a rare white tiger disputed." The Detroit News February 11, 1975 Section A pg. 3;
• Sankhala, Kailash, "Tiger !: The story of the Indian tiger/Kailash Sankhala New York Simon & Schuster c1977. (see above references)
• Bernays, M.E., Smith, Rie "Convergent strabismus in a white tiger." Australian Vet. J. Vol. 77, No. 3, March 1999;
• "Indian rajah offers to sell rare white cub", N.Y. Times and London Times ads June 22, 1951;
• "White tiger exports banned, India, N.Y. Times D. 4, 1960 12:2;
• "'White' Tigress Arrives by Air On Way to Zoo in Washington." N.Y. Times Dec. 1, 1960 pg. 37 L+;
• "Eisenhower Is Wary as He meets a 'White' Tiger." N.Y. Times Dec. 6, 1960 pg. 47 L+;
• Husain, Dawar "Breeding And Hand-Rearing Of White Tiger Cubs Panthera tigris At Delhi Zoo." The International Zoo Yearbook Vol VI 1966
• Bruning, Fred, "Hall Has A White Tiger by the Handle." The Miami Herald Jan. 14, 1968;
• "Lady Is A Tiger." The Miami Herald Jan. 19, 1968;
• Roychoudhury, A.K., The Indian White Tiger Studbook (1989);\
• "2 tiger cubs, rare Siberian, born at fair" The Baltimore Sun, Monday, June 28, 1976 page C.1;
• "President Gets White Tiger for National Zoo" The Philadelphia Inquirer Tuesday Morning Dec. 6, 1960
• "Death of white tiger" Washington Post July 9, 1971 pgs. B1, B5
• Greenberg, Robert I, "White Tigress Visits Zoo for 3 Days And Monkeys See Red" The Philadelphia Inquirer Saturday Morning Dec. 3, 1960
• "White Tiger At Zoo For Three-Day Visit" The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, Friday Dec. 2, 1960
• "He's Not Enchanted: Eisenhower Accepts Tigress-Distantly" The Bulletin, Philadelphia, Dec. 6, 1960
• "20 year old Mohini Rewa put to death at National Zoo" Washington Post April 3, 1979 pg. B1
• D.C. born white tiger killed by mate in Columbus (Ohio) zoo" Washington Post July 8, 1983 pg. B3
• Greed, R.E., "White Tigers, Panthera tigris, At Bristol Zoo" The International Zoo Yearbook Vol. V 1965
• Sankhala, Kailash "Breeding Behavior of The Tiger Panthera tigris In Rajasthan" International Zoo Yearbook Vol. VII 1967 pg. 133
• "White Bengal tiger imported for Longleat safari park" The London Times March 22, 1989 pg. 3d
• "White tigers at Bristol Zoo" The London Times August 17, 1963 pg. 8b.
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