White tigers are a colour morph of any subspecies of tiger whose fur is white or almost white with black to light ash-grey stripes, though it is not a separate subspecies itself. To date, the only known white tigers have been from the Bengal tiger subspecies.
Compared to orange tigers without the white gene, white tigers tend to be larger both at birth and as fully grown adults. In spite of their unusual coloration, their size can be advantageous in the wild. Heterozygous white tigers also tend to be larger than other orange tigers.
Currently, several hundred white tigers are in captivity worldwide, with about one hundred being found in India. Nevertheless, their population is on the increase. The modern white tiger population includes both pure Bengals and hybrid Bengal Siberians, however, it is unclear whether the recessive white gene came only from Bengals, or if it also originated from Siberian ancestors.
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