Eco News #48 – Kenny, the white tiger

March 11th, 2013

Say “hi” to Kenny, inbred white tiger. Don’t be mistaken – they are not albino. Those Siberian/Bengal tigers have recessive genetic traits, which makes their fur white and their eyes blue.

kenny
For now we can distinguish 6 subspecies of tiger alive today: Bengal, Malayan, IndoChinese, Siberian, South Chinese and Sumatran. Unfortunately, all of them are endangered – their population is estimated between 4,600-7,700 individuals, which is a 95% (!) decrease in 100 years. It was because of the intensified hunting for their fur and habitat destruction.

They are being bred by humans – but not for conservation – for aesthetic purposes. They serve as visual feature to get people interested, but their genetic diversity is decreasing – which results in health problems. What’s more, those tigers can not be released into the wild – because of the color of their fur, they will face great problems with getting food, as they are unable to camouflage themselves.

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One Response to “Eco News #48 – Kenny, the white tiger”

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