Angela Knight
Inspired
Droooooling. That is SUCH a gorgeous beast.
YIKES! I don't envy her vet at all.That's what Tsuki looks like when the vet gets close
True of snow leopards, but not white tigers. White tigers and white lions both exhibit a mutation called leucism, which is sort of like "partial albinism" (hence the stripes still being black, etc.). Leucism in tigers and lions is associated with other genetic defects, unfortunately, which is another reason the condition is rare in the wild--most white tigers and white lions in captivity were deliberately bred for it, much like cat and dog breeds.My favorite white big cat is the Snow Leopard, but the White Tiger's a close second favorite.
The first time I saw a photo of a Snow Leopard I was amazed, and I read somewhere the reason for the difference in the color of their coats was owing to their natural habitats. IOW, Snow Leopards and White Tigers are more likely to live up in cool mountain areas, rather than down in hot desert areas. Nature being what it is, they adapted to their surroundings.
White tigers are Bengal tigers with a rare recessive gene in its homozygous manifestation. Heterozygous individuals are normally coloured. A pair of heterozygous tigers with the gene will only produce one white cub out of every four offsprings. If mated with normal tigers, none of the offsprings will be white. It's only when two white tigers mate that the mating will produce white cubs. So in the wild it is extremely rare for a rare recessive gene to manifest itself. Even so a white tiger is much easier to spot by its prey or by hunters and is less likely to live long. Genetic defects are mainly due to inbreeding, not to the gene itself. All existing white tiger are inbred, hence prone to genetic defects.True of snow leopards, but not white tigers. White tigers and white lions both exhibit a mutation called leucism, which is sort of like "partial albinism" (hence the stripes still being black, etc.). Leucism in tigers and lions is associated with other genetic defects, unfortunately, which is another reason the condition is rare in the wild--most white tigers and white lions in captivity were deliberately bred for it, much like cat and dog breeds.