The Timeline Of White Tiger Inbreeding
Below is a timeline of events that might help you understand how white tigers came to be in America.
Chronology of the white Bengal tiger up until the death of Mohan:
1820: A white tiger was displayed at Exeter Change.
1915: White tiger cub captured by Maharajah Gulab Singh of Rewa. Upon its death it was gifted to King George V as a sign of India's loyalty to the crown.
25th May 1951: A forest laborer reported sighting a white tiger cub.
26th May 1951: The cub's mother and two of its three siblings were shot and killed.
27th May 1951: Maharaja Martand Singh captured Mohan.
30th May 1951: The cub escapes and a large party goes out to recapture it.
26th February 1952: A normal colored tigress named Begum is captured.
10th April 1955: Begum produced a litter of a male and two female cubs. All were orange, as were all the cubs in her subsequent two litters.
December 1957: Mohan was mated with Radha, his four-year-old daughter from the second litter with Begum.
20th October 1958: Radha produced an all-white litter of a male and three female cubs. They were christened Raja, Rani, Sukeshi and Mohini. Subsequently:
The male and one female (Raja and Rani) were gifted to the National Zoological Gardens in New Delhi.
Mohini was transported to Washington D.C.
Sukeshi was kept for mating with Mohan and remained with him until he was withdrawn from breeding. She was then housed with her son in hopes they would breed but he showed no interest in mating with her and after six years without success she too was transferred to the National Zoological Gardens in New Delhi where she died on the 2nd February 1975.
May 1964: Raja and Rani were mated. Rani gave birth to two white cubs, a male and a female. She mauled both and the female died. The male, 'Tippu' lost his tail and was hand-raised with great difficulty.
August 1965: Two white cubs born to Rani. Both die due to neglect.
19th December 1965: Three white cubs are born to Rani. They were left in her care for just over a month, at which point she lost interest and they were hand-raised. The female dies at the age of 17-months and one male dies on the 17th April 1967 during shipping to the United States.
Breeding of Rani continued and she produced a total of 20 white cubs.
19th December 1969: Mohan died aged 19 years 7 months. All captive white tigers descend from Mohan, which explains why they are so genetically inbred.
"We borrowed this infornmation, with permission" The information on this page taken from the following page on Big Cat Resuce's main web site: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cats/wild/white_tigers_inbreeding.htm
CREDITS:
Information: Most of white tiger info on this website was taken from Big Cat Rescue's main website and is used here with their written permission.
The purpose of this website is to support Big Cat Rescue's efforts to educate the public regarding the truth about white tigers. Thank You, Big Cat Rescue for giving us permission to use this information and thank you for doing such a thorough job of researching and sharing the real truth about white tigers.
Photographs & Website Development: LaWanna Mitchell of RETURN2eden.org