The Truth About White Tigers

High-profile TV coverage of tigers in captivity may give the impression that breeding tigers in captivity is the only way to save the species. But that’s far from true. Globally, there are some legitimate conservation breeding programmes for tigers, and where appropriately managed, they could be used to re-establish wild populations in the future.  However, there are estimated to be over 8,000 tigers in captive tiger facilities across China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and over 5,000 in the US, with most providing absolutely no conservation benefit whatsoever to the world’s remaining 3,900 wild tigers. Oftentimes, misinformation promoted by facilities about captive and white tigers’ benefit to conservation misleads the public in order to further the profits brought in by these facilities. White tigers at a captive facility. Photo credits: © Eustaquio SantimanoLeigh Henry, Director of Wildlife Policy at WWF-US, shares four reasons why the promotion of “endangered” white tigers, as just one example, is a ploy of facilities to profit from captive tigers while providing no benefit to wild tiger conservation. 1. White tigers are falsely marketed as a highly endangered speciesWhite tigers are not a separate subspecies of tiger. The colour of their coat is the result of a genetic mutation called leucism. In fact, this white coat would be a hindrance in the wild, as it doesn’t provide a tiger with any camouflage, which greatly reduces their chance of survival. 2. White tigers in captivity exist due to inbreedingThe white tiger is a result of a genetic mutation and the most efficient way to breed them is by using two tigers who have the recessive alleles needed to produce offspring with a white coat. In captive breeding facilities, these two individuals are often related, making inbreeding common. In the US, all white tigers originate from a single male white continental tiger which was imported to the country decades ago.  Captive born tiger cubs are sometimes raised with piglets in tiger breeding facilities, feeding on milk from a sow, supposedly to make the tigers more docile. Photo credit: © Gordon Congdon3. Inbred tigers are unhealthy tigersInbreeding tigers, not just white tigers, is common in captive facilities and inbred tigers suffer from a range of significant health problems. Common issues include spinal deformities, defective organs and immune deficiencies. Instead of admiring the colour of the tigers’ coats we should be asking ourselves why these tigers are here in the first place. Photo by Sreehari Devadas on Unsplash4. They’re often bred for cash, not conservationCaptive tiger cubs, including white tiger cubs, generate a large amount of revenue for facilities which often don't reach the field conservation projects they claim to support. Small tiger cubs are relatively easy to care for, but the constant stream of new cubs needed by many facilities for photo ops or cub handling for paying customers creates a bigger problem when they reach adulthood.  Adult tigers are expensive to care for and require larger and more secure enclosures. To reduce their numbers, some captive facilities kill their tigers and sell their parts to supply the illegal tiger trade, making a profit for a second time.Photo by Juan Camilo Guarin P on UnsplashThe reality of the situation is white tigers aren’t an endangered species but the result of a rare genetic anomaly which doesn't require conservation. And as long as captive facilities continue to supply tigers, their parts and products into the illegal trade which fuels the demand for tiger products, wild tigers will always be at risk.  In Asia, especially China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam where over 8,000 tigers are estimated to be in captivity, WWF is calling on governments to commit to phasing out tiger farms and instituting clear bans on trade in tigers and their parts and products, from any source, wild or captive. Be part of our collective efforts—join us as a tiger protector!

Living with Tigers… in a Fast Changing World

What needs to be done to make sure humans and tigers coexist peacefully?Nowhere is this question more evident than in India. In this vast and diverse nation, around 32 million people are already living inside tiger habitats that host over 70% of the world’s remaining wild tigers.Pilibhit Tiger Reserve’s Atul Singh and the Sundarbans’ Mahua Pramanik share more in this feature story. An eye for an eye. That’s one way we used to handle it.  “When there was a case of a conflict-causing tiger, the Forest Department used to call private hunters,” says Mr Atul Singh between mouthfuls of hot paratha. He plucks a framed, ageing photograph—displaying a group of immaculately dressed men kneeling solemnly beside the body of a male tiger. There is a single bullet wound to its neck. “My grandfather was the first private hunter in this area,” he says, adding, “he killed 24 of them.” A stone’s throw from where Atul stands, through wheat fields, villages, and sugarcane plantations, lies the dense forests of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve.Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, nestled into the foothills of the Himalayas, is a long, narrow forest flanked by densely populated areas. Mr Atul Singh shows a photo of his grandfather posing beside a conflict-causing tiger he was commissioned to shoot. © Jitender Gupta / WWFIn the early 1900s, Atul’s grandfather was an expert tiger tracker, held in high esteem for his ability to relieve locals of the terrors of wandering predators.In the decades that followed, the tiger population in India and across the world plummeted. Conservationists and governments took action. Tigers became a protected species. The global audience took an interest. Today, alarm bells are still ringing for the precarious few that remain in Southeast Asia, although India and Nepal are celebrating a dramatic increase in their tiger numbers.  Urban sprawl is growing. New roads and railways are mobilising and connecting economies, bringing new villages, towns, and industries with them. The squeeze on space and resources has pushed tigers into isolated islands of habitat and 46.7 million people are living alongside tigers as next-door neighbours.In India, 32 million people are living inside tiger habitats that host over 70% of the world’s remaining wild tigers. It's a figure that brings into sharp focus a now urgent question: What needs to be done to make sure humans and tigers coexist now, and far into the future?The main road running through Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is flanked by farmland, roadside cafes, brick kilns and a school. It has been estimated that some 24,000 km of new roads will be built in tiger landscapes by 2050. This will impact tiger dispersal and prey abundance © Jitender Gupta / WWF“Growing up I thought the tiger was the most wonderful animal. But I also realised that this animal was slowly disappearing,” explains Atul. “So, the fact that we have now doubled the tiger population in our Pilibhit is a matter of great pride for us,” he adds. Near Atul’s place, the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is where the boundaries between human and tiger habitats are blurred. In the land between, forest quickly gives way to sugarcane plantations where tigresses have found a safe haven to give birth to their cubs. Other tigers reportedly follow their prey into the fields. (left) Tiger cubs play in a sugarcane field near Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (right) Adolescent tigers walk through a forested area planted with wheat near Pilibhit Tiger Reserve © Uttar Pradesh Forest DepartmentSome tigers strayed further into towns and human settlements. One young tiger even found itself in a family’s kitchen—a distressing situation for both the tiger and community members. This cocktail of circumstances led the area to become a hotspot for human-tiger conflict, sometimes with devastating consequences.A young tiger strays into a family’s kitchen in Madha Honda town, Uttar Pradesh. © Atul Singh“People suffered many losses,” explains Atul. He pauses and looks to the ground with a furrowed brow. “Because of that, some people decided to kill the tigers themselves.”65 year old Satya Devi’s husband was killed by a tiger. “He went outside late at night. The tiger attacked him just as he was about to reach home. We got to know the next morning from a villager who saw his body lying on the ground nearby.” © Jitender GuptaFrom foes to friendsSaddened by the situation, Atul decided to find a resolution for this on his own. Atul began to track tigers that strayed from the reserve, informing local residents and asking them to keep a safe distance. With the help of WWF, he then built a team of 12 tiger trackers from towns and villages surrounding Pilibhit. They now work hand in hand with the Forest Department to locate tigers, monitor their movements, spread awareness in their communities on how to stay safe and, in extreme circumstances, relocate them. The team goes by the name of the Bagh Mitra, or ‘Tiger Friends’. Today there are some 200 Bagh Mitras embedded in communities surrounding Pilibhit Tiger Reserve. “We are all constantly working with communities to help them live peacefully with the tigers,” says Atul. WWF provides training to the Bagh Mitras, including how to identify tiger pugmarks. From this they can determine the approximate age, weight and gender of the tiger, as well as the direction it’s travelling - important as the team monitors the tiger’s movements closely until the Forest Department arrives. © Jitender GuptaAtul gives the team some hints and tips to help them to raise awareness in their communities, spreading word on what to do and how to stay safe if a tiger is nearby. As well as mitigating conflict, their role among their communities helps foster support for and understanding of tiger conservation. © Jitender GuptaWhile Pilibhit’s main challenge to coexistence is tigers leaving the protected area, in many tiger landscapes the biggest problems arise when people go into tiger territory. Mostly, because they have no other choice. The Sundarbans mangrovesA boat travels between two of the many islands in the Indian Sundarbans. © Tanmoy Bhaduri / WWFBhuvaneswari is a forest-fringe village on one island of the Indian Sundarbans—the one with the highest rates of human-tiger conflict in the world. To the east of its jetty lies countless homes, farms, schools, and a bustling high street. Tigers here can swim up to 6km a day in search of hard-to-find prey. Devastating stories of tiger attacks are easy to come by. Manoranjan Tanti lost his son Samir to a tiger attack just last year while he was out fishing in a creek at low tide. Samir’s wife was left with little choice but to go to the city in search of work. Fisherman Manoranjan Tanti, who lost his son to a tiger attack last year, helps to sort through dried fish to sell at the market © Tanmoy Bhaduri / WWFUnbuttoning his shirt to reveal her husband’s scars, Jyotsna Singh shares details of how she pulled a tiger off him with her bare hands. Now unable to work and faced with daily hospital bills, the family is in a dire economic situation. Husband and wife Shankhar and Jyotsna Singh. Shankhar was attacked by a tiger whilst out looking for crabs in April 2021. In an act of astonishing bravery, Jyotsna tackled the tiger off her husband and took him away to safety. © Tanmoy Badhuri / WWFLife is not easy for most of the 4.5 million people living in the Indian Sundarbans. For many, the mangrove forest which is home to around 100 tigers is a crucial source of food and income. “People in this area are always dependent on the forest and rivers. It has a rich biodiversity, it’s not just a breeding ground for tigers,” says 72 year old Basudev Barik has been fishing in the Sundarbans forests most of his life. © Tanmoy Bhaduri / WWFOn the face of it, life for the people of the Sundarbans may appear simpler if there were no tigers. But there is growing awareness that tigers are essential for the protection of the ecosystem on which the people of the Sundarbans depend. Safe from harm“If tigers weren’t there, people would destroy the forest by cutting down all its trees to earn a living. The environmental balance would be destroyed and we would face even worse damage from the storms,” says Mahua Pramanik.Mahua is a mouli—a traditional wild honey collector who used to travel into the forest with her family. These days, an alternative livelihood scheme means she no longer needs to risk her life, but can still continue with her family’s traditional practice. Traditional honey collectors or “mouli” demonstrate rituals they perform before going into the forest. They chant to Ma Bonbibi, the goddess of the Sundarbans, to protect them from demon king Dakkhi Rai, who appears in the form of a tiger © Tanmoy Bhaduri / WWFMahua and her husband are one of around 80 families involved in a honey cooperative that uses apiaries placed in secure, netted areas on the edge of the forest. “It’s much safer to do it this way, and the bees still collect pollen from the mangrove trees so the honey retains its high quality," she says. Mahua poses with her daughter outside their home in Bhuvaneswari village, Sundarbans © Tanmoy Bhaduri / WWFNot only this, the project is also providing her with a better and more reliable source of income. “We are much better off than before, and I have got my kid admitted to a good school,” she smiles. The project, initially set up in partnership between WWF, the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve, along with Discovery Communications India, was supported by tiger conservation funding. Mahua (Left) and Pratima (right) check one of the hives. Pratima says, “there are hardly any livelihoods available for us women. This honey production process is totally environment friendly and gives us a dignified means of alternative livelihoods.” © Tanmoy Bhaduri / WWF© Tanmoy Bhaduri / WWF© Tanmoy Bhaduri / WWFThe honey is processed before it is shipped across India. As the harvesting season runs only 3 months of the year in Sundarbans when the mangrove flowers are in bloom, many of the families involved spend the rest of the time packaging the honey, tending the hives, and travelling to tend to the hives when they are relocated to lychee and coriander farms in other areas of West Bengal. © Tanmoy Bhaduri / WWFWhat Mahua’s story shows is the inextricable connection between socio-economic development and conservation, particularly in the context of human-tiger coexistence. The aim is to have projects that are self-sustaining, and grow organically so that the communities are not reliant on outside funding. This takes extensive training and initial support, but as the collective is showing—it is possible. No ‘one size fits all’ solutionThe challenge of human-tiger coexistence in our ever-shrinking world is by no means an easy fix, and even in Pilibhit and the Sundarbans, it hasn’t been entirely solved. In Pilibhit, other important interventions are underway: livelihood projects, alternative cash crops, eco-tourism, to name a few. Meanwhile, in the Indian Sundarbans, pressures continue to rise. These stories have shown that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to human-tiger coexistence. Circumstances are changing. Landscapes are changing. Attitudes are changing. Each intervention has to be catered to a specific local context and be ready to evolve. But across the board, the solutions are all linked by one theme: they have local communities at their core. WWF’s Living with Tigers report highlights the urgent need for human-tiger coexistence strategies and policies that give those living with tigers more ownership of, involvement in, and benefits from conservation. Read the full report here to learn more.WWF-India is on the ground supporting the honey collective to sell its remaining stock, and will continue to support this project into the future. If you are in India, search ‘Bonphool honey’ to buy this delicious, organic product.Support our tiger conservation efforts—become a Tiger Protector today.

Southeast Asia’s Silent Landmines: The Next Crisis for Tigers

This inconspicuous trap that is a snare is adding fuel to the flames of rapid population declines for tigers in the region.A new crisis has emerged across Southeast Asia, and it is decimating wild tigers across the region.The natural sounds in biodiversity-rich tropical forests are in danger of going silent forever, the result of an inconspicuous new weapon.A small wire snare may produce hugely negative impacts on future generations. It consistently and indiscriminately takes a toll on hundreds of species, but the tigers and their prey have become one of the biggest victims. A new study found at least one-third of a hundred protected areas at severe risk of losing their wild tigers.Tigers have been severely hit over the last decade across range states in Southeast Asia, suffering big losses. Their numbers have slipped down from an estimated 500 to less than 200 individuals in Malaysia; they have gone extinct in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam, where their numbers are now reduced to non-functional levels.Thailand – which is still a stronghold for tigers – is also equally vulnerable, while Indonesia, too, constantly faces threats from snaring. Myanmar, which is still gathering information on its remaining tigers at present, could turn out to be another soft target for exploiters. A snare is most frequently made from a simple iron cable or a brake cable used in motorbikes. It is fast, cheap and readily available – with devastating consequences for wildlife.Last year, a simple snare killed a tiger with her two unborn cubs. She was found just outside Rimbang Baling, a pristine forest and critical tiger habitat.Snaring is spreading quickly across the region in a manner similar to an epidemic, and if we don’t act soon then it will soon become too late for tigers and its prey, even in landscapes where other conservation or recovery efforts are being implemented. Furthermore, the groups setting up the snares are also often infiltrating across borders to do so, and thus threatening national security and exasperating social conflicts exposing the local communities to dangers.The Great Kerinci Snare Sweep 2019, a snare sweeping exercise and competition carried out by the Tiger Patrol Conservation Units (TPCU) over two months including the month of May and June 2019, removed a total of six active tiger snares, 93 active deer snares and 491 wild bird snares in the course of 24 patrols. Earlier, 17 active tiger snares and 169 active deer snares had been recorded on TPCU patrols in June and July 2016.Can we stop this crisis?Similar to landmines, snares are concealed, injuring and even killing unsuspecting wildlife.Quick response and strategic actions with even stronger commitments are urgently needed from the governments. The ASEAN leadership is encouraged to bring the tiger range states to the table for a high-level dialogue to build more effective management, robust monitoring systems, swifter response to conflicts and comprehensive enforcement.Can we turn this crisis to our advantage?This is an opportunity that can help bring multiple agencies and stakeholders together and work in an integrated and strategic way towards the recovery of tiger numbers and their prey across the region.If tigers are removed from landscapes by snaring (or lack of prey due to snaring) then there will be less incentive for governments to also protect all those services tiger landscapes provide. As such, it is not just about tigers, but also so much more. It’s about the livelihood of indigenous communities, the water we drink, clean air that we breathe, natural wealth and capital, the security against many natural disasters and keeping intact the biodiversity and stability of our planet. Together we have done so much in the past, and we can do it again. Let’s bring back the roar across the forests and collectively urge each of the governments towards investing resources in tiger areas, for effective protection and rebuilding the tiger population. Urgent actions needed towards ending the snaring crisis and creating safe havens for the tigers and associated biodiversity in the wild across Southeast Asia.The writer is Technical Lead on Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards in WWF, Khalid Pasha.This article first appeared on WWF-Singapore.