Habitat

There are only a small quantity of white tigers in existence and present numbers are put in the region of 500. With the inevitable inbreeding problems a debate continually rages over the wisdom of breeding this animal. White tigers, white lions, white peacocks, none are representative of their wild populations.

Habits: Unlike some big cats like lions, adult tigers like to live alone (except for mother tigers with cubs). This is partly because in the forest, a single tiger can sneak up and surprise its prey better than a group of tigers can.

Range and Habitat: The size of a tiger's territory depends on the amount of food available, and usually ranges from about 10 to 30 square miles (26-78 sq. km). Siberian tigers sometimes have really big territories (as large as 120 square miles). Although tigers usually live alone, tiger territories can overlap. A male tiger's territory usually overlaps those of several female tigers. Today only about 5,000-7,000 wild tigers live across Asia. The past and present ranges of the remaining five tiger subspecies are illustrated. The northernmost living tiger, the Amur or Siberian tiger, lives primarily in southeastern Russia. The South China tiger occurs only in southern China. The range of the Indochinese tiger extends across most of Southeast Asia. The Bengal tiger is found primarily in India, while the Sumatran tiger is restricted to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Bali, Caspian, and Javan tigers have become extinct in the past 70 years.

The habitat has numerous features to enhance the comfort of the animals and provide spectacular viewing for guests. The open-air environment features a swimming pool with fountains and simulated mountain terrain for the tigers' enjoyment and the publics' entertainment. The facility's white setting gives the animals a sense of security by allowing them blend into the background and special slanted glass affords better viewing, eliminates glare, and helps control the temperature.

The Royal White Tigers are rotated continuously in and out of the facility throughout the day. When not in the Habitat, they enjoy their own spacious living environment and periodic excursions into the countryside.