A tiger cub that was abandoned among rubbish bins near Athens is being treated for malnutrition, with vets saying it is in very bad shape.
The paralyzed 4-month-old female was found hiding under dumpsters in the town of Spata, east of Athens. She is being treated at the clinic of the Attica Zoological Park . “No one knows where it came from or how it got herepark founder Jean Jacques Lesueur told Proto Thema newspaper, adding that the feline was likely abandoned on Monday. “It’s in terrible shape”, he said. As he explained to Newsbomb.gr, it is evidently the act of an unscrupulous person who, after illegally acquiring the white puppy, decided to get rid of him due to his disability. Conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) describes white tigers as a “genetic anomaly” not known to exist in the wild. They are often the result of inbreeding, exposing them to a variety of health problems at birth. A white tiger’s pale coloration is due to a lack of the red and yellow pheomelanin pigments that normally produce orange coloration. An additional genetic condition can result in an almost complete absence of stripes, making the tiger almost pure white.
The white tiger’s fur color is the result of a genetic mutation called leucism. Indeed, this white coat would be a hindrance in the wild, as it does not provide the tiger with any camouflage, which greatly reduces the chances of survival. In the United States, all white tigers come from a single male white continental tiger that was imported into the country decades ago, WWF says. The park claims to be home to more than 2,000 animals of 290 different species