His appearance was due to a more complicated problem: inbreeding. White tigers aren't a separate species. They're actually Bengal tigers with a rare gene. Unfortunately, this rarity has been taken ...

"White tigers are not a species, they're not endangered, they're not in the wild. There are so many misconceptions about ...

"These white tigers are often inbred, which results in poor health conditions - including deformities, heart defects, and crossed eyes - and a high mortality rate," according to the website.

She is part of a plan by the Odisha government to tackle inbreeding in the tiger population that has resulted in increasing numbers of the once elusive black tigers or pseudo-melanistic tigers.

conservationists may be forced to rely on these motley tigers to maintain wild populations. In the late 1990s, 20 to 30 Florida panthers remained, and they were becoming severely inbred.