Decoding Big Cat Colour Variations: The Truth Behind The Palette

From striking white tigers to almost pastel-coloured lions, social media has given unusual big cats viral fame. But behind their distinct appearance lies a different story – one that rarely makes it to the caption. 

At FOUR PAWS, we’re often asked: 

• “Are white lions or tigers albino?” 

• “Do these colours occur in the wild?” 

• And most importantly: “Is there harm in breeding them?” 

Let’s break it down.

The Facts Behind the Fur 

While the wild population of tigers is endangered, with fewer than 4,000 individuals, more than 8,000 tigers live in captivity around the world. Lions face a similar fate, with their vulnerable wild population estimated at just 25,000 individuals, while approximately 8000 individuals are being held in captivity in South Africa alone.  

Most of these big cats, both in the wild and in captivity, display the distinctive colouration: 

Tigers – orange coats with dark stripes, gradually fading to white on the ventral region.  

Lions – tawny to brown coats, with manes that can be as light as their fur or as dark as black.  

What Causes Colour Variations? 

Genetic mutations can lead to unusual coat colours, deviating from the abovementioned standard.  

For tigers, this includes white, golden and snow-white coats, with white being the most common. There are only old anecdotal reports of such tigers in the wild, while white lions are native only to the Kruger-to-Canyons Biosphere region in South Africa. 

So, is the white coat colour due to albinism? 

These are not cases of albinism, but a form of leucism that results from partial loss of pigment in skin or hair and is prevalent across the animal kingdom.   

Leucism can have non-genetic causes, but research has identified that inbreeding (i.e. mixing of closely related individuals, such as parents-offspring) is a key driver of the white coat colour in animals.  

Genetics Behind the Appearance 

Phenotypes – traits we can “observe”, like coat colour – are shaped by the interaction of genes and the environment. Genes have two versions, alleles, which can be dominant or recessive. The dominant overrides the recessive and determines the phenotype, i.e. the “observable” trait in which that gene is involved.  

However, genes can be double recessive, resulting in a recessive phenotype. This only happens if both parents carry the recessive allele, which then determines the phenotype, in this case, coat colour variations. 

This is what happened with Mohan, the male white tiger captured from the wild in India in 1951. All captive white tigers can be traced back to him, a legacy built on repeated inbreeding to preserve the recessive gene. 

The Hidden Cost: Health and Animal Welfare Issues 

These colour variations are rarely seen in the wild, but they do occur. Animals with colour variations do not belong to a different species or subspecies, so the rarity of this event does not indicate that these animals are endangered and in need of protection.  

From an evolutionary point of view, if colour variation gave animals a survival advantage, we would see them more often in the wild, because beneficial traits tend to be passed down through generations.  

On the contrary, studies on captive white lions and tigers identified a prevalence of serious health problems, including: 

• Higher disease susceptibility, including prion disorders and infectious feline panleukopia; 

• Increased incidence of stillbirths, aborted foetuses, and brain damage in cubs; 

• Overall decreased life expectancy; 

• Cerebellar hernias and head malformations that lead to problems with the nervous system; 

• Difficulty eating properly due to vascular ring anomaly; 

• Skin cancers. 

In July 2023, FOUR PAWS rescued Charlota, a 1-year-old white female tiger that was kept illegally as a pet. Charlota suffers from health conditions that could affect her welfare as she grows older. Her blood values indicate the development of chronic kidney disease, her lumbar spine appears slightly arched, her lower foreleg bones are slightly bent, and she suffers from strabismus (i.e. crossed eyes), which negatively affects her vision, particularly her depth perception.  

We do not know Charlota's entire lineage, so it is unclear whether inbreeding occurred. However, we do know that her sister Ramba – also a white tiger – was rescued in December 2023 from private keeping in Czechia. And since there is evidence of a link between inbreeding and health issues, this raises serious concerns. 

In 2024, FOUR PAWS rescued two tiger cubs from a facility in Slovakia, the offspring of a white male and an orange female, the latter with strabismus. One of the cubs, Snow, is white, but given her young age, we don’t yet have any evidence of health problems.  

Like these tigers, many of the animals we rescued over the years are often victims of inbreeding, inappropriate keeping conditions and exploitation.  

Exploitation, Not Conservation 

White lions and tigers are often exploited under the guise of conservation or entertainment.   

White lions have been found to fetch higher prices in trophy hunting, and there have been cases of white lions in wildlife parks being obtained from hunting facilities or resold for entertainment purposes.  

White tigers and lions may also be used to attract visitors to animal facilities and circuses, especially those that promote direct human-animal interactions. They are often marketed as “rare” and “endangered”, misleading the public about the facility's true intentions. In one study carried out on YouTube videos of tourist-lion cub interactions, 41% of the cubs appeared to be white lions.  

Do They Help Conservation? 

In short: no. 

The origin and lineage of these animals are often unknown, making it difficult to guarantee that genetic mixing has not occurred through both inbreeding and outbreeding – mixing of individuals from different subspecies, or even species (e.g. hybrids such as ligers and tigons).  

This genetic mixing reduces physical fitness, including detrimental consequences on fecundity, survival rate, growth, and susceptibility to environmental stress. Animals bred for rare colour traits have little value to any conservation effort. 

The risk of using these animals in conservation programmes is extremely high. It can lead to the dilution of genetic lineages in wild populations, ultimately jeopardising their long-term survival. Without a better and extensive understanding of both the genetic diversity of wild populations and of rescued individuals, introducing these animals into the wild may disrupt the wild populations. 

Many captive-bred animals lose key natural behaviours, such as foraging, socialising, breeding and patrolling large territories, especially if they haven't been raised in a species-appropriate environment. These animals often lack the necessary hunting skills and exhibit abnormal behaviours, such as showing excessive familiarity with humans. These factors can make life in the wild extremely difficult for them.  

On top of that, these animals often lack immunity to diseases prevalent in wild populations, putting them at an even greater risk. 

This is why breeding white tigers and lions – who are typically bred for appearance, not survival – undermines true conservation efforts. It wastes valuable resources and goes against the goals of responsible modern zoos and of organisations like FOUR PAWS. 

Ways forward 

Various international organisations have expressed concerns about the breeding of white tigers and lions.  

The Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and The Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance, have stated that the institutions accredited by them should not engage in breeding to create offspring that displays rare phenotypes, including white tigers and lions.  

Not only does FOUR PAWS not support such practices, but we actively work to eradicate them.  

FOUR PAWS strongly opposes the commercial breeding and trade of big cats, as well as all unregulated breeding in private ownership, especially of lions and tigers with colour variations. These practices often cause serious welfare issues and contribute nothing to genuine conservation efforts. 

We will continue to: 

• Advocate for and, where possible, rescue big cats from inappropriate keeping conditions 

• Campaign for bans on private ownership, commercial trade, and further captive breeding of big cats 

• Expose these practices and the far-reaching consequences of the wildlife trade. 

Help Us End Exploitation 

Breeding for beauty comes at the cost of animal welfare and does not support conservation. It's time to break the vicious cycle of suffering. 

👉 Learn more about our campaign: https://www.four-paws.org/campaigns-topics/campaigns/breaktheviciouscycle 

📩 Sign the petition to end the commercial trade of big cats in South Africa: https://help.four-paws.org/en/ban-commercial-trade-big-cats-south-africa 

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