The history of the white tigers of Rewa.

The history of white tigers in the U.S.A.:

In 1960, at the age of two, white tiger Mohini was purchased by a businessman for ten thousand American dollars; he gave her to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. as a gift to the children of the United States.

Two keepers travelled to Rewa, India to collect the tigress. They carried a letter from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry authorising her export, but the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in New Delhi refused to honour it claiming that the tigress was a national treasure.

After many hours of talking, officials accepted that her export would not adversely affect India's supply of wild tigers and eleven men carried her to the plane. The keepers watched her day and night, even going so far as to sleep on her cage.

On December 5th 1960, Mohini was presented to President Eisenhower in a ceremony performed on the lawn of the White House.

Breeding Mohini:

Mohini was adored, and delighted the visitors, so eventually the zoo wanted to breed more of these animals. This presented a problem as no more white tigers were available, but the zoo eventually found one of Mohini's normal-coloured uncles, Samson.

One of their offspring, Ramana, was next mated back to Mohini and this produced a white female, Rewati. Though the cub was beautiful and healthy she showed definite signs of what is known as 'breeding depression'. This problem is covered in depth in the general article on white tigers.

White Tiger History - Page 1&2: The First Known White Tigers | 3: White Tigers In The U.S.A. |
4: Chronology Of The White Bengal Tiger

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