Essence of the Wild

Did you know there's no such species as white tiger? The white tiger is a genetic variant of the Bengal tiger, that lacks a pigment called pheomelanin which is present in the normal orange colour tigers. In the wild, the rate of a white tiger being born is 1 in 10000. The captive population of white tigers started when a white cub, named Mohan was captured and his normal mother and other siblings were killed in the process. Later, was taken to US and when grown, was inbred with his daughter to a normal tigress, to produce white cubs. So basically, the white tiger population that exists, is the result of inbreeding. There's no pure bred population of tiger is found in the wild. White tigers only exist in zoos, in captivity. The white tiger's lifespan is less as compared to the orange ones. They tend to die early. Moreover consistent inbreeding causes genetic abnormalities in the animals such as weak immune system, psychological and neurological disorders and many more. S

 I was 7 years old when i moved from a small village to the capital city, Bhubaneswar and visiting India's 2nd largest zoo, Nandankanan zoo is an obvious. Back then, in 2005, there were no battery operated vehicles or any transport facilities, so we had to walk for an hour or two to visit all enclosure which was not possible for us. It was quite exciting at first, not being familiar with anything, we walked along a group of visitors from West Bengal, leaded by a guide. The guide was telling about each animals, how much food is served to them and of what kind, as we moved from enclosure to enclosure. We were looking somewhere else when the guide, at top of his voice called out "kishan" and there came a roar that could be heard from miles away. He called the name again, and again came another roar in reply.  Everyone around or near, were drawn towards the sound. With excitement and an unknown fear, i too ran towards the fence of the enclosure and never aware of their exist