A golden tabby tiger is one with an extremely rare color variation caused by a recessive gene and is currently only found in captive tigers. Like the white tiger

White tiger

The white tiger is a recessive mutant of the Bengal tiger, which was reported in the wild from time to time in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and especially from the former State of Rewa.-Color comparison:...

, it is a color form and not a separate species. In the case of the golden tiger, this is the wide band gene; while the white tiger is due to the color inhibitor (chinchilla) gene. There are currently believed to be fewer than 30 of these rare tigers in the world, but many more carriers of the gene.

While no official name has been designated for the color, it is sometimes referred to as the strawberry tiger due to the strawberry blonde coloration. The golden tiger's white coat and gold patches make it stand out from the norm. Their striping is much paler than usual and may fade into spots or large prominent patches. Golden tigers also tend to be larger and, due to the effect of the gene on the hair shaft, have softer fur than their orange relatives.

Like their white cousins, all golden tabby tigers have mainly Bengal parentage, but are genetically polluted with the genes of the Amur tiger via a part-Amur white tiger called Tony, who is a common ancestor of almost all white tigers in North America. The suggestion that this coloration is caused through the deliberate breeding of Amur tigers with Bengal tigers is a popular myth founded on this fact. All golden tigers appear traceable to one of Tony's male descendants, Bhim.

India has records of wild golden tigers which date back as far as the early 1900s. There have been suggestions that the tendency for this coloration gradually developed in a small group of tigers living in an area of heavy clay concentration. The unusual color would provide these tigers with extra camouflage. The theory remains unproven, however, inbreeding of a small isolated group of tigers could cause the recessive golden tiger gene to emerge if at least one of those tigers carried the recessive gene for the golden color and bred with its own offspring Golden tigers may occur in the same litter as stripeless or nearly stripeless tigers. This is due to the effect of the wide-band gene on the normal orange color and the white color respectively. The wide band mutation is not found solely in white tigers and may also be carried by normal coloured tigers, however carriers of the wide band gene are probably no longer found in the wild. Wild-born golden tigers might be disadvantaged as they are less well camouflaged than normal orange tigers. The last known wild Golden tigers were shot outside of Mysore Pradesh, India in the early 20th century. But there are just under 30 left in captivity. They are highly intelligent

Golden tigers in zoos

Few zoos have bred or exhibited golden tigers and many have no knowledge of the color or its mode of inheritance. It therefore usually appears by accident when breeding orange and white tigers together rather than through planning. As white tigers and heterozygous normal colored tigers are traded and loaned between zoos and circuses for breeding, if they also carry the wide band gene, that gene becomes widespread. When their descendants are mated together, the golden tiger color is passed on to the offspring if both parents are gene carriers. Unless golden tabby cubs are born, the zoos may have no idea that the parents carry that gene.

The first golden tiger cub born in captivity was in 1983 and this came from standard-colored Bengal tigers, both of whom carried the recessive genes for both the golden tiger and white colors. It was born at Dr. Josip Marcan's Adriatic Animal Attractions in Deland, Florida.

Australia

An example of a Golden tiger is in Dream World in Australia. Samara, a normal orange tigress, had been mated with nearly-stripeless white male, Mohan. Her litter included one normal orange cub (Sultan), the first white tiger born in Australia (Taj, also nearly stripeless), and the first two tabby-colored tigers (male Rama and female Sita) born in Australia. The cubs weighed around 1.5 kilograms and measured approximately 30 centimeters in length. They were removed from their mother soon after birth and hand raised. The births and hand-raising process were filmed and presented in an hour long documentary. Golden tabby Sita will be mated to an unrelated normal orange tiger called Kato.

Europe

Diamond, a male golden tiger, is housed at the Isle of Wight Zoo

Isle of Wight Zoo

The Isle of Wight Zoo, also known as the Isle of Wight Tiger and Lemur Sanctuary, is housed inside a fort on the coastline of Sandown. It is currently home to the biggest collection of tigers in the United Kingdom.-Past:...

 in the UK. Because he is inseparable from his normal colored sister, who also carries the golden gene, Diamond was castrated to prevent inbreeding. Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 Zoo's golden tiger, Butu, obtained from Longleat, went to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 when Glasgow Zoo closed. Longleat in the UK previously had an elderly golden tiger named Sonar, but he died in 2006. Fall 2010, a golden tabby tiger, Shami, was born in a zoo in ZOOPARK

Zoopark

Zoopark was one of the founding rock groups which began the Russian rock movement. The group was founded in 1980. It consisted of singer-songwriter Mike Naumenko, guitarist Aleksandr Khrabunov and a varied group of artists. The first album recorded was All Brothers are Sisters with Boris...

 in Næstved, Denmark. It's the first of it's kind to be born in Scandinavia, and only the third in Europe.

North America

Two Golden Tabbies are also found at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

: A male, Kingda Ka, who has a roller coaster named after him, and his half-sister Raina who are part of the family that appears in daily educational award-winning shows about these specific tigers. T.I.G.E.R.S., which performs at King Richard's Faire in Carver M.A and elsewhere, also has Golden Tabby Tigers. One of T.I.G.E.R.S.'s golden tabby tigers, Ramu, is on loan to the Dakota Zoo in Bismarck, North Dakota. Taj, another golden tabby resides at the Cougar Mountain Zoological Park

Cougar Mountain Zoo

Cougar Mountain Zoo is a zoological garden located on the north slope of Cougar Mountain, just to the west of Issaquah, Washington. It was founded in 1972 by Peter and Marcie Rittler and covers . The zoo is open for general admission Wednesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m...

 in Issaquah, WA. Another Golden Tabby can be found at the Buffalo Zoo

Buffalo Zoo

Founded in 1875, the Buffalo Zoo located in Buffalo, New York is the third oldest zoo in the United States. Each year, the Buffalo Zoo welcomes approximately 400,000 visitors and is the second largest tourist attraction in Western New York, second only to Niagara Falls...

. Topaz is a permanent resident at the Catty Shack ranch, a wildlife sanctuary, in Jacksonville, FL and another Golden Tabby can be found at Safari's Wildlife Sanctuary in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Broken Arrow is a city located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, primarily in Tulsa County but also with a small section of the city in western Wagoner County. It is the largest suburb of Tulsa. According to the 2010 US Census, Broken Arrow has a population of 98,850 residents...

. There are three Tabby Tigers found at Miami's Jungle Island, Mahesh, Orobella and Radha. There are three Tabbys, Arula, Kumari, & Kahil, at Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge in Tyler, Texas. The Exotic Feline Rescue Center

Exotic Feline Rescue Center

Exotic Feline Rescue Center is an exotic feline preserve established in 1991 and located in Center Point, Indiana.-About:The EFRC was founded in 1991 by Joe Taft. It is now a 501 nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization. The EFRC cares for endangered exotic felines such as lions, tigers,...

in Center Point, IN, also has a golden tabby tiger named Sahib. Octagon Wildlife Sanctuary in Punta Gorda, FL has a Golden Tabby named Kashmire.

Though golden tabby tigers are not deliberately bred for by conservation-minded zoos, they have joined the white tiger in becoming popular for use in stage shows and similar events. A few private breeders are attempting to produce golden tabby tigers alongside white tigers to meet demand. The golden tabby tiger and the white tiger could therefore be regarded as human-perpetuated "breeds", however, some zoos and wildlife parks refer to both golden tigers and white tigers as endangered.

Golden tiger genetics

Litters of different colored cubs are not unusual because the white and golden tabby colors are caused by combinations of hidden recessive genes carried by the parents. White tigers, such as Dreamworld's Mohan (named after the white tiger captured in India in the 1950s), are highly inbred. Inbreeding reduces genetic variability and may cause hidden genes to manifest as there is a greater probability that two recessive genes will meet up.

Analysis of golden tiger family trees shows that golden tigers are genetically normal orange colored tigers with the addition of a recessive modifiying gene, probably the wide band gene. This same wide band gene also gives rise to stripeless white tigers. A white tiger that inherits two copies of the recessive wide band gene will be a stripeless white. A normal orange tiger that inherits two copies of the recessive wide band gene will be a golden tabby. The wide band gene is carried independently of the white gene.

All golden tabby tigers seem traceable to a white tiger called Bhim, a white son of Tony. Bhim was a carrier of the wide band gene and transmitted this to some of his offspring. Bhim was bred to his sister Sumita (also a carrier of the wide band gene), giving rise to stripeless white tigers (i.e. having two copies of the wide band gene). Bhim was also bred to a normal orange tigress called Kimanthi, and then to his own orange daughter Indira from that mating. The mating of Bhim and Indira resulted in striped white, stripeless white, normal orange, and golden tabby offspring indicating that both Bhim and his daughter carried the wide band gene. When the golden tabby male offspring was mated to the normal orange female offspring, both golden tabby tigers and white tigers resulted.

At Dreamworld, Australia, it was demonstrated that the mating of a nearly stripeless white tiger to an orange tigress that carried both white and wide band genes would result in golden tiger offspring alongside nearly stripeless white and normal orange cubs. Although there are about only 30 in existence, all in captivity, many are carriers of the gene.

External links

• Golden Tigers and Genealogies