Animal spotted by photographer in
jungles of southern India may be the fairest known tiger living outside
captivity
Michael Safi in Delhi
Thursday 6 July 2017
14.44 BST Last modified on Thursday 6 July 2017 22.00 BST
A rare “pale tiger”, whose fur
conservationists say could be the fairest of any in the wild, has been
photographed in southern India.
“It is the palest tiger I have
ever seen on the record or heard about in literature,” said Belinda Wright, the
founder of the Wildlife
Protection Society of India.
The animal was spotted last week
by wildlife photographer Nilanjan
Ray
while driving in Nilgiri biosphere reserve in Tamil Nadu state.
Pale tigers, distinct from white
tigers, are thought to have a genetic mutation that results in what biologists
call colour morphism. It occurs in environments with large, random mating pools
that allow for the varied exchange of genes.
Parvish Pandya, a doctor of
zoology, said the birth of a tiger with pale fur was “quite a genetic chance”.
He ruled out the possibility the tiger was albino, citing the lack of pinkish
hue around its eyes.
Wright, who has spent decades in
India tracking tigers, said she recalled only ever seeing one before, in the
Ranthambore national park in Rajasthan in the 1980s. “But it wasn’t nearly as
pale as this one,” she said.
The last white tiger in the wild
was shot in 1958, and though some still live in public and private zoos, many
suffer severe health problems due to a lack of genetic mixing.
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