White tiger cub in Indian zoo turns black

Black tigers are rare. Biologists believe a massive presence of melanin, the dark skin pigment, is the likely reason for its uncommon colouring.

Tigers’ skin colour is determined by the presence of black and yellow pigments. In most tigers, the colour yellow dominates over black to give them their characteristic colouring.

“In this cub, the reverse has happened — black is the dominant colour,” senior zoo biologist Dr Manimozhi told The Times of India.

“We are monitoring the cub. The skin colour that he grows into when he reaches adulthood will be the permanent one,” he said.

“It is the dominance of yellow pigment that enables tigers to survive in the wild,” he added. “In fact, this is the reason why most white tigers are found only in zoos and not in the wild,” Dr Manimozhi said.

The three cubs were born on June 6 and are all healthy and active, according to the zoo.

More source:

Video: White tiger cub in Indian zoo turns black - Telegraph
White tiger cub turns black in Chennai Zoo - Times Of India
White tiger cub turns black in southern India - Video Dailymotion
White tiger turning black - Boing Boing

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Submited at Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 1:00 pm on Uncategorized by luci
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