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Bengaluru-based Nilanjan Ray had been working in corporate technology marketing for many years when he decided to take a break and travel a little. Last week, he was driving through a road in a forest reserve in the Nilgiris with a guide, when he came upon a curious sight.
It was certainly not the first time that Nilanjan had seen a tiger, but in his travel across several sanctuaries and reserves in north and central India he hadn't seen a tiger so pale, though not exactly white. The hallmark orange colour of the Bengal tiger was missing from its coat, but the fur on his face and body were clearly tinged with it.
When the tiger realised that there was a vehicle approaching, it scampered out of the way onto an elevated land and hid amidst the vegetation. Nilanjan holds a keen interest in wildlife photography so they decided to wait for a while in order to get a photograph.
Having captured the photograph, they drove on. Nilanjan said that he informed the authorities of the reserve who said they would keep track of the tiger. The officials also told him that the tiger looked like it was a sub-adult.
Nilanjan then spoke to some zoologists and experts at Sanctuary Asia, a magazine on wildlife and conservation. He also consulted Belinda Wright, well known tiger conservationist and founder of Wildlife Protection Society of India.
Belinda also told Nilanjan that while she had spotted a similar pale tiger in Ramthambore, Rajasthan, in the 1980s, the one in Nilgiris was much paler than that one.
Dr Parvish Pandya, another zoology expert Nilanjan consulted, told The News Minute that this tiger was rare, but not a new find per se. The most accurate way to describe the unique coat this tiger has is through a recombination of genes. Dr Pandya explains:
Dr Pandya believes that the tiger needs to be remotely monitored to ascertain if it will face problems socialising with other tigers due to its unique appearance.
Nilanjan said the reserve authorities assured that they knew the tiger's location and were monitoring it appropriately. The whereabouts of the tiger would not be revealed so as to avoid unwanted attention from tourists as well as the risk of poachers.
(This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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