Sunday, April 28, 2019

ZOO #4


8 comments:

Chic Silber said...


I've seen tigers swimming in this moat

Chic Silber said...


The 1st white tiger I ever saw

was Mohini in this enclosure

Likely back in the 60s or 70s

She was very rare back then

Roger Smith said...

I also visited Mohini there. After presenting my recommendations for the Animal Welfare Act of 1970, in near-by Hyattsville, Maryland, I had set aside tourist time for D.C. Clyde Beatty wrote in his 1965 book, FACING THE BIG CATS, that he had sent $10,000 to her original owner, the Maharajah of Rewa, India, in a purchase agreement for this first publicly-known white tiger, but for reasons never confirmed, the deal fell through. As for firsts, it might be better said that Mohini was the first to be revealed by the Maharajah and to be made famous. It is thought he may have had others before her, but feared overwhelming attention, and chose his path of protection.

The Zoo at that time also had a great male tiger of the normal coloration who was said to carry the rare gene necessary for white offspring. Information given then claimed this gene was carried exclusively by males, and this guy was among the chosen few.

Beatty never got his white tiger, but in later years, there came a proliferation of them. Complicated permits eventually allowed a growing number of trainers to include whites in their acts. Mabel Stark warned that any genetic alteration from absolute normalcy would also affect the animals' minds. The danger of tigers became enhanced by those who were insane. Whites came off seats fighting like mad when there was nothing near them. Trainers trying to re-seat them were injured or killed. Some insisted on having them, and whites became exhibited until the novelty wore thin. As expected, surgical measures were taken by unscrupulous owners, and many whites suffered de-fanging, de-clawing, and castration.

Chic Silber said...


They mated Mohini with that male

you mentioned Roger but offspring

(2 cubs I recall) were normal color

Chic Silber said...


The white the Felds gifted

to Gunther (maybe arranged

by Siegfried Fischbacher)

was dumb as a rock & crosseyed

Chic Silber said...


Mohini was a rare act of nature

Chic Silber said...


I've just learned that ....

Over 70 white tigers were born at the Cincinnati Zoo

which is no longer in the white tiger business

The Cincinnati Zoo sold white tigers for $60,000 each

Siegfried & Roy bought three white cubs from the Zoo

I rest my case your honor

Chic Silber said...


Out of the blue the name

John Cuneo comes to mind