How many white tigers are there?

White tigers are not a tiger subspecies in their own right. Rather, they are a color variant that only occurs in King tigers (also called Bengal tigers or Indian tigers) and their crossbreeds. The king tiger is generally under species protection, but the white tigers by themselves are not. Their color is a freak of nature and is practically non-existent in the wild. That's why they can't be called critically endangered, even though it is worldwide very few of them exist.

This is what white tigers look like

Contrary to what their name suggests, the white tigers are not entirely white. Their nose is unpigmented, i.e. pink, but they have many narrow, brown to black stripes. Her eyes are blue with a yellow border. If the pupil dilates, for example when excited or angry, the blue color can no longer be seen and the eyes are yellow.

• For this reason, they are not albinos in the strict sense, because then they would not be able to form any color pigments and their eyes would be red. On the other hand, they are semi-albinos.
• There are also white tigers without any darker stripes, but they are even more rare. These are known as snow tigers or ghost tigers.

The breeding of the white tigers

• Today it is believed that all known human-cared white tigers go back to a single founder named Mohan. This was caught by Martand Singh, the Maharaja of Rewa, in 1951 and, due to its special color, was kept as a treasure and used for breeding.


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• There was not a single white tiger cub among Mohan's offspring with normal colored tigresses. It was only through inbreeding that white tigers reappeared.
• This made it clear that the inheritance was simple, recessive. To show a white color, a tiger must inherit the plant from both father and mother. These do not have to be white themselves, it is sufficient if they are mixed-bearers of the system.
• Due to the strong inbreeding during the reproduction of the white tigers, there were occasional negative side effects that led to deficiencies in physique or an increased susceptibility to disease. However, these are solely due to inbreeding and have nothing to do with the color itself.
• The genetic mutation that led to the white color variant has already been discovered. It is a simple amino acid change in the SLC45A2 protein. Changes in the same protein were also related to color variants in other species discovered, for example in horses (cremellos) and also in humans (oculocutaneous albinism type 4).

The white color was partially crossed into other tiger subspecies. The resulting hybrids can no longer contribute to the preservation of the pure subspecies. For this reason and because of inbreeding, the targeted breeding of white tigers is controversial. On the one hand, there is a fear that the breeding of the various other subspecies could be neglected. On the other hand, white tigers are crowd pullers and can help raise people's awareness of the severe threat posed by tigers in the wild. Many animal parks, zoos and especially the Las Vegas show duo Siegfried and Roy are known for breeding white tigers.

There aren't many white tigers

• The total number of Bengal tigers (no matter what color) living in the wild is less than 2000 today. By comparison, their number was estimated at 40,000 around 1930. The stock was decimated by hunters, lack of food and clearing of the forests. Today the King Tiger is subject to special protection, which is also supported by the Indian government through specific legislation.
• White tigers are said not to have been spotted in the wild since the Mohan tiger was caught in 1951. It has been estimated that only one in approx. 10,000 free-born Bengal tigers is white. The ratio may be even lower.
• The occurrence of white tigers in the wild is possible, however, since the mutation responsible is recessive, as described, and can thus be carried covertly for many generations. Even if no white, free-living tigers are currently known, one could be born at any time if both tiger parents were carriers of the mutation.
• White tigers are currently only available in human care. Their number is just under 300 copies worldwide.

Even if white tigers are not a subspecies of their own, they are extremely fascinating and beautiful animals. So it is no wonder that they are among the favorites of visitors in zoos and are particularly advertised. Also in Germany there are a couple of white tigers. You can visit the parks or Admire the zoos in Stukenbrock, Hodenhagen and Aschersleben.