Comments for www.Liger.org

Comment on Why Are White Tigers Rare In The Wild? by Overweig

Overweig — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:28:08 +0000

Probably because rich morons keep them caged in their castles until they bite their heads off.

Comment on Why Are White Tigers Rare In The Wild? by Austin B

Austin B — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:53:25 +0000

Cause they are becoming extinct
Extinct:1 or 2 left.
if there 100 left its not extinct haha
1 or 2

Comment on Why Are White Tigers Rare In The Wild? by Ironhide

Ironhide — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:12:53 +0000

Because they’re albinos. The albino gene is extremely rare, and the only way to be albino is to get two doses of them from your parents. That’s why some zoos use inbreeding to get white tigers.

Comment on Why Are White Tigers Rare In The Wild? by heygirl3

heygirl3 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:49:38 +0000

They are recessive.

Comment on Why Are White Tigers Rare In The Wild? by isiskas

isiskas — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:21:57 +0000

A white coat with black stripes does not give very good camouflage. If the cat cannot camouflage itself then it will not be a good hunter. Bad hunter = dead. If the cat is dead then it cannot reproduce and pass on the genes for white with black stripes.

Comment on Why Are White Tigers Rare In The Wild? by Heather H

Heather H — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:53:01 +0000

http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/white.ht…
…A white tiger can only be born when both parents carry the unusual gene for white colouring. The double recessive allele in the genetic code only turns up naturally about once in every 10,000 births. For unexplained reasons it seems to occur only in the Bengal subspecies…http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cats/wild/wh…
…White Tigers can ONLY exist in captivity by continual inbreeding, such as father to daughter, brother to sister, mother to son and so forth…http://www.savethetigerfund.org/Content/…http://www.exoticcatz.com/sptigerwhite.h…http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/tiger…http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/mohan…http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/mohan…

Comment on Why Are White Tigers Rare In The Wild? by SC

SC — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:59:21 +0000

Because nature selects for animals best suited for their environment. The vast majority of white tigers are bengal. Bengals live in the jungle where the environment is green and brown – not white. The white color stands out and makes the tiger less able to blend in with it’s background and therefore less likely to make a kill. Without killing, the tiger will die and will not pass on the white genes to future tigers.

Comment on Why Are White Tigers Rare In The Wild? by BWANA

BWANA — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:49:32 +0000

Almost all animals can have an albino offspring now and then, especially vertebrates. What makes an animal an albino is a complete lack of chromatophores (color cells) in the skin.
In the wild this is a great “disadvantage” to be born an albino. For two main reasons: 1 – Makes the animal stand out and therefore be more susceptible to predators. 2 – Albino genes are weaker genes and so the animal is generally not as strong and it also has poor eyesight due to the pink eyes.
Therefore, few albinos make it to adulthood in the wild, so there are far fewer of them than there are the “normal” members of their species.

Comment on Why Are White Tigers Rare In The Wild? by Underwater Angel

Underwater Angel — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:26:32 +0000

We just watched a show about this on animal planet this evening. They had several species of white babies (alligator albino, lion albino,etc) and it explained that the reason evolution has produced the colors they have generally in animals is for their own safety> So when a freak (white/albino) is born in the wild, it is easily singled out by predators. It doesnt blend in and have the protection of its coat.

Comment on Why Are White Tigers Rare In The Wild? by Leolupus

Leolupus — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:23:55 +0000

First of all, I would like to point out that white tigers are not a different species or subspecies – they are just Bengal tigers with a genetic condition called leucism, which results in reduced pigmentation. This is not the same as albinism, which is a complete lack of pigment – an albino tiger would have no stripes, and pink eyes, not blue.
White tigers can and do occur in the wild, but are rare for two reasons. First, leucism is caused by recessive genes, meaning that two individuals carrying the gene must mate, and both must pass on the gene to the offspring in order for that offspring to be leucistic (if only one parent passes on the leucistic gene, the offspring will be normally coloured, since the gene for normal colour is dominant over the leucistic gene). Second, being white is something of a disadvantage for a tiger. It lacks the natural camouflage of normally coloured individuals, and most of those born will be killed by predators whilst young and vulnerable, since they stand out. Those that do survive to adulthood will have a hard time hunting for the same reason – it will be easier for their prey to see them coming.
Tigers as a species are endangered due to humans – threats to the species include hunting for their skins and body-parts (for use in traditional Chinese medicine), habitat destruction, and depletion of their prey species. Since white tigers are naturally rarer than normally coloured ones, the more endangered tigers become the less chance there is of any leucistic individuals occurring and surviving.
However, white tigers are common in captivity as they are a draw for zoos and wildlife parks. Unfortunately, this has led to some unscrupulous breeding in the past, and many captive individuals are now inbred and suffer the detrimental effects.