![]() ![]() White tigers are bred to relatives in captivity to attract tourists – and inbreeding produces unhealthy offspring. Both parents must carry the same very rare gene to produce white cubs. A genetic mutation in Bengal tigers gives them their milky white fur. ![]() Yes, they do! Because we’ve seen them on TV or in wildlife tourist attractions, we may think they’re common, but they’re not. So if stripes camouflage tigers from potential prey, why are some of them white? Don’t they stand out in the jungle, even with their stripes? It’s always surprising to see that their skin almost looks like it’s been tattooed: It has the same striped pattern as its fur! White tigers When we have to sedate a tiger to treat an injury or do dental work, we shave their fur. It’s not just their fur that’s inked with black stripes. Using this method, tiger experts estimate that only about 3,400 wild tigers remain across their Asian homeland. They use remote cameras to take pictures of the animals when they walk by. This allows researchers who study them in the wild to identify and count individual tigers. Tigers are solitary cats that rely on stealth and camouflage to survive.Įvery tiger has its own unique stripe pattern – and they aren’t the same on both sides! Mathias Appel/Wikimedia Commons That’s important because these predators don’t hunt in groups, like a lion, or have the speed of a cheetah. They help break up the cat’s shape and size so it blends in with trees and tall grasses. Their vertical stripes, which range from brown to black, are an example of what biologists call disruptive coloration. The tiger’s markings also play an important role. To their eyes, the tiger’s fur isn’t bright orange: it looks green and matches the background. It helps them see better in dim light, but it also makes them vulnerable. Deer and other hoofed animals can’t see the full range of colors, much like a colorblind human. They’re helped by the limited vision of their preferred prey. Fennell et al, Journal of The Royal Society Interface, CC BY Deer can process only green and blue, which makes them colorblind (left). The human eye can process red, green and blue, so to us, a tiger looks orange (right). ![]()
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