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The
most famous white tiger was captured in 1951 and obtained
by his ex-Highness of Rewa, Shri Martand Singh.
During
a hunt the beaters drove a mother tigress into the machan
where she was instantly shot. Then four cubs walked
into the machan. One was white. Shots rang out and three
cubs were dead, but the white cub had not been shot
and escaped. The following day the Maharaja, seeing
the opportunity for great profit, had the white cub
found, captured, and brought it to his palace.
In
1953 a normal colored female was captured to provide
a mate for the white tiger, who had been named Mohan.
She was named Begum.
Mohan
and Begum had three litters of cubs; two in the first
and four each in the next two. All the cubs were normal
colored. Determined to have white cubs, the Maharaja
then began a breeding program guaranteed to produce
them. He bred Mohan with Radha, Mohan's daughter from
the second litter.
Mohan
and Radha had three litters. The first litter produced
four white tigers - one male and three females. The
second litter was one normal (colored) female and two
white males. The third produced four white cubs, two
of which died.
Now
things start to get a little complicated. Mohan and
Radha, who were father and daughter, had produced in
their second litter Niladari, a white male, and Malini,
a colored female but white gene carrier. So this brother
and sister (from the same litter) who were the offspring
of a father and daughter, were bred together. They produced
seven litters of cubs. Many were white, but several
were stillborn or died shortly after birth, as could
be expected at this point.
After
this, many more white tigers were produced from inbreeding;
parent to sibling and sibling to sibling. Many died
or had to be destroyed because of deformities.
In
1960 the Radio Corporation of America purchased Mohini
and donated her to the National Zoo in Washington, DC.
Mohini's parents were Mohan and Radha. Her mother and
her sister were one and the same.
Now
the action moves to the United States.
Mohini
was the first white tiger to come to the United States
and was of great celebrity. She was even visited by
President Eisenhower. Of course, other zoos then wanted
white tigers, too. And they were worth a lot of money.
Mohini
was mated here with Sampson, her normal colored half-brother.
Their first litter produced one white cub and two normal
colored cubs. Only the colored male, Ramana, survived.
The second litter produced two cubs but neither were
white. One was stillborn but the female, Kesari survived.
Mohini,
who had been born to her father and her sister, was
now mated with her son, Ramana. Their first litter was
Rawati, a white female, and a colored male who died.
The next litter produced two white and three colored
cubs. One was stillborn, three were said to be crushed
by the mother, and Moni survived.
Then
brother and sister, Ramana and Kesari, whose mother's
father was also her grandfather, and whose father was
the brother of their grandmother, were mated. They produced
three white and one colored cub.
Kesari
was then mated with Poona, who was from an outside gene
pool. They produced six colored cubs. All died but one.
Who could blame them.
It
is obvious why many white tigers of the Mohan line carry
the genes for not only white coats and blue eyes, but
also crossed eyes, hip and back problems, shunts and
malformities.
Most
of the white tigers in the United States today came
from this bloodline. From National Zoo they went to
other zoos, major attractions and exhibitions.
It
is not generally acknowledged, but we think there is
more than one bloodline of white tigers in the United
States. We know that tigers have different shapes, sizes,
colors and shades of color - just like people. And it
is controlled by gene groups, just like people. If your
mother had big thighs, you probably do, too. (Sorry)
The
Mohan line of white tigers in this country are identifiable
in the same way by the characteristics dictated by their
gene groups. They are shorter in length. They have shorter
faces. Their back slopes more sharply from their hip
joints to the base of their tail. They have fewer stripes
on their shoulders. This is true even in the standard
colored tigers from the Mohan line.
The
other line of white tigers has different physical characteristics.
They are longer in length, never any crossed eyes, no
hip or back problems, no deformed cubs, their backs
are straight, their faces are longer, and their stripes
are darker.
In
general, these tigers are typical of the Bengal tigers
seen in the wild.
What
is this bloodline? Who knows. It could even be the Rwea
bloodline but not corrupted by the inbreeding as the
Mohan line is.
We
do know there were tigers in this country before 1951,
when Mohan was captured. We also know, evidenced from
the sightings and even the many white tiger skins the
Maharaja's had, that there were many white tigers in
India prior to Mohan. White tigers have been spotted
as recently as within the last twenty years in India.
The
only requirement for another white tiger bloodline would
be two tigers who carried the white gene. It would be
terribly presumptuous for us to think that Mohan's mother
and father were the only tigers who carried the white
gene.
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