This wildlife photographer was lucky enough to capture on camera the world’s only three remaining free–roaming white tigers. Clint Ralph, a 55-year-old photographer from Pretoria, South Africa, witnessed the staggering sight at the Tiger Canyon reserve in Philippolis.
“This was a very special sighting as these are the only three free–roaming white tigers in the world,” Clint told Caters. “There are a few kept in captivity in zoos but this mother and her two cubs are on a reserve where tigers roam free.”
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Clint managed to grab the stunning photos after receiving an invitation from the Tiger Canyon reserve. His photos are meant to raise awareness about the tiger population’s dramatic decline over the last years. He spotted the rare trio – a mother and her two cubs while playing in the water. Interestingly, there was also a third cub who has an orange coat, just like the father of the three.
“I was thrilled when I saw them,” Clint said. “It was so awesome to watch and then photograph them playing in the water. With the poaching and habitat decline this project hopefully will be able to assist in the growth of the world’s free roaming tiger population.”
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White tigers are actually Bengal tiger and they have this distinctive color due to a rare condition called leucism which leads to the partially loss or even the lack of skin pigmentation. So, while Bengal and Siberian tigers are orange with black stripes, white tigers as their name indicates have a white or a near-white coat with black stripes.
While some reports indicate there are around 200 white tigers in world, these three white Bengal tigers are the only one that live in the wild. The rest of them, whether leucistic or crossbreeds, live (mostly) in zoos.
h.t. CatersNews
