This is another interesting mutation, this time on tigers.
The golden tabby tiger or golden tiger is an extremely rare colour variation caused by a recessive gene and now found only in captive tigers. Like the white tiger it is a colour form and not a separate species. It is sometimes referred to as the strawberry tiger due to the strawberry blonde coloration. No official name has been designated for the color.
Image source from Wikipedia.
The golden tiger (golden tabby tiger, strawberry tiger) is even rarer than the white colour morph. As with the white tiger, the golden tiger is usually considered a form of Bengal tiger, although most have Amur (Siberian) blood as many breeders did not keep tiger bloodlines pure.
The Valley Of The Kings sanctuary in Wisconsin has a golden tiger named Jasmine. The Wild Animal Orphanage (WAO) in Texas has a rescued golden tiger called Bubba.
There are around 30 golden tigers in captivity including those at the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros Circus (USA) and at Dreamworld (Australia) and – oddly considering their rarity – in big cat rescue centres (golden tiger Boris was previously the pet of boxer Mike Tyson). When Glasgow Zoo closed, their golden tiger went to a Spanish zoo where it produced several litters with a normal orange tiger. The Isle of Wight Zoo at Sandown has a white tigress (Zena) and a golden tiger male called Diamond.
Read more at Wikipedia and Messy Beast.
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