Plumpton Park Zoo · Rising Sun, Maryland
♥ Rescued at Plumpton Park Zoo

Bengal Tiger

Panthera tigris tigris

The tiger of the Indian subcontinent, and the most numerous tiger left in the wild. Meet the white tiger of Plumpton Park Zoo in Rising Sun, Maryland.

Plan Your VisitMeet Our White Tiger
White tiger walking toward the camera at Plumpton Park Zoo
Size8–10 ft long
Weight220–570 lb
Lifespan8–10 years
Conservation statusEndangered

White tiger with brown stripes resting on a wooden platform at Plumpton Park Zoo

Our white tiger resting on the platform at Plumpton Park Zoo. Photo: © Plumpton Park Zoo.

Our white tiger

Meet our white tiger

A white coat, dark stripes and an unmistakable tiger face.

Bengal/Siberian mixAt Plumpton Park Zoo

Our white tiger has leucism, an inherited condition that reduces pigmentation in her coat. A white tiger is not an albino and not a separate subspecies — it is an ordinary tiger carrying a recessive gene that shuts down the orange pigment in its coat, leaving chocolate or charcoal stripes on cream and, usually, blue eyes. Both parents have to carry the gene, which is why the coloring is vanishingly rare in the wild and why nearly every white tiger alive is in human care.

Plumpton Park Zoo’s two tigers, Alexis and Miracle, are Bengal/Siberian mixes, not two separate subspecies. This page covers the Bengal side of their family tree; our Siberian tiger page covers the other. Plan your visit today.


Field guide

The tiger of the Indian subcontinent

The Bengal tiger is the tiger of the Indian subcontinent — India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan — and the most numerous of the surviving subspecies, accounting for well over half of all wild tigers. Next to the Amur tiger it is a warm-climate animal: a shorter, sleeker coat, a deeper orange ground color, and bolder, more closely spaced stripes.

Like a human fingerprint, no two tigers have exactly the same stripes. Researchers can recognize individuals by their stripe patterns. On orange tigers, stripes help break up the outline in grass and forest cover. Strong jaws and long canine teeth, the pointed teeth used to grip prey, help a tiger catch and hold its food. Bengal tiger canines measure about 3 to 4 inches.

Look at a tiger from behind and you’ll see a white spot on the back of each black ear. No one knows for sure what the spots are for. One idea is that they help cubs follow their mother through tall grass; another is that they signal a tiger’s mood as it turns its ears.

Tigers live in forests, grasslands and mangrove swamps across their native range.

Females are smaller than males. A male Bengal can weigh 400 to 570 pounds; a female, 220 to 350.

Sources: Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan); San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance; Government of India, National Tiger Conservation Authority survey figures; Smithsonian’s National Zoo (Bengal weights).

Face of our white tiger, with chocolate stripes and pale blue eyes, at Plumpton Park Zoo

Chocolate stripes on cream and pale blue eyes: the face of a white tiger. Photo: © Plumpton Park Zoo.


At a glance

Bengal tiger fast facts

Scientific name Panthera tigris tigris
Range India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan
Animal group Mammal — cat family
Diet Carnivore; deer, wild boar, gaur, nilgai
Size About 8 to 10 feet from nose to tail
Weight Males 400 to 570 lb; females 220 to 350 lb
Lifespan 8 to 10 years in the wild, up to about 20 in human care
Canine teeth About 3 to 4 inches
Conservation status Endangered (IUCN)

Sources: Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan); IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group; Smithsonian’s National Zoo (Bengal weights).


1958

the year the last white tiger known in the wild was shot.

Why our tiger is white

One letter of DNA

This white coloration is called leucism. In 2013, researchers traced the white coat to a single gene, SLC45A2. A change in just one letter of its DNA stops the tiger from making red-yellow pigment, the color that turns an ordinary tiger orange. Black pigment is untouched, so the stripes stay dark and the eyes keep their color. That is why a white tiger is not an albino.

White tigers were recorded in the forests of India for centuries, but the last one known in the wild was shot in 1958. Nearly every white tiger alive today lives in human care.

Source: Xu et al., Current Biology (2013).


Behavior

How a tiger lives

Tigers live alone except when a mother is raising cubs or a pair comes together to mate, and they defend their territories fiercely. Home-range size varies with prey availability. Animal Diversity Web reports female ranges of roughly 77 to 386 square miles in India, with male ranges 2 to 15 times larger.

  • Night hunter: tigers hunt mainly at night, by sight and sound.
  • Patience over speed: only about 1 hunt in 10 to 20 ends in a kill.
  • Strong swimmer: tigers take to water readily and can cross rivers several miles wide.
  • Big leaps: a tiger can jump about 26 to 33 feet.
  • Talking tiger: tigers communicate by roaring, grunting and chuffing, a friendly puffing sound.

Sources: Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan).

On the menu

What Bengal tigers eat

Bengal tigers hunt large hoofed mammals — chital and sambar deer, wild boar, gaur and nilgai — and can eat a great deal in one sitting, then go days without another kill.

A tiger makes roughly one large kill a week, about 50 to 60 a year, and can eat about 40 to 88 pounds of meat after a big kill.

A tiger is a carnivore: an animal that eats other animals. It often uses an ambush, waiting out of sight before attacking prey.

Sources: Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan); IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group.


Family life

Raising tiger cubs

~103days of pregnancy
2–3cubs in a typical litter (1 to 7)
2–3 yrsbefore cubs are fully independent
White tiger yawning while lying on a wooden platform at Plumpton Park Zoo
A big yawn on the platform at Plumpton Park Zoo.

Tiger cubs are born after a pregnancy of about 103 days and weigh only about 1.7 to 3.5 pounds. Their mother raises them alone. A cub is a young tiger. She nurses her cubs and, as they grow, brings them on hunting trips so they can learn to catch prey. Cubs begin to leave her at about 18 to 24 months and are fully independent at two to three years old. Life is hard for young tigers: about half of wild cubs do not survive their first two years.

Sources: Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan); IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group.


Spot the difference

Bengal, Siberian or Sumatran?

Bengal tiger

The tiger of the Indian subcontinent and the most numerous in the wild. A shorter, sleeker coat, deep orange, with bold, closely spaced stripes. Our white tiger is a Bengal/Siberian mix.

Siberian (Amur) tiger

The northernmost tiger. A thicker winter coat, paler orange, fewer and narrower stripes, and a ruff around the neck. Males can reach 660 pounds and 10 feet.

Sumatran tiger

The smallest tiger, from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Males top out around 310 pounds and 8 feet.

White lion

A different big cat with a pale coat of its own, and no stripes at all. Meet our white lions on your visit.

Sources: our Siberian tiger page; Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan).


Conservation

Why they matter

White tiger looking out through bamboo leaves at Plumpton Park Zoo
Our white tiger peering through the bamboo.

ENDANGERED

The tiger is listed as Endangered by the IUCN. Its 2022 assessment estimated 3,726 to 5,578 tigers left in the wild across all of Asia — higher than the previous count, partly because of better monitoring, but still a tiny fraction of the tigers that once lived there.

Most of them are Bengal tigers. India’s 2022 tiger assessment estimated 3,682 tigers, within a range of 3,167 to 3,925. These are dated survey estimates rather than a count of every tiger alive today. Poaching, habitat loss and conflict with people remain the main threats.

Sources: Panthera, on the 2022 IUCN tiger assessment; IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group; Government of India, National Tiger Conservation Authority survey figures.


White tiger walking through snow at Plumpton Park Zoo
Out in the snow at Plumpton Park Zoo.

Support

Help care for our tigers & the animals of Plumpton Park

As a nonprofit zoo, Plumpton Park Zoo relies on admissions, memberships and the generosity of people who believe in what we do. Donations help support animal care, veterinary services, nutritious diets, enrichment, habitat improvements and the continued development of the zoo.

We are planning to build a world-class facility for our tigers right here in Cecil County, Maryland. Be a part of the tigers’ new spot.

Adopt Alexis or Miracle. Sponsor either tiger’s care for a full year, from $50 to $1,000. Every adoption comes with an adoption certificate, a fact sheet, a 4×6 photo and a thank-you note from your tiger. Higher levels add a zoo magnet, a plush, a T-shirt, a painting by your tiger, an animal encounter with your tiger, a behind-the-scenes tour and your name on the Adoption Board. Compare the five adoption levels.

Adopt Alexis Adopt Miracle Support Our Animals

Plumpton Park Zoological Gardens, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations support the zoo’s charitable mission and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.


For teachers

Bengal tiger classroom resources

Download our two-page Bengal tiger fact sheet with five facts, vocabulary, five reading questions and a drawing activity. Use the page to connect stripes and jaws with survival (NGSS 4-LS1-1), and maternal care with cub survival (1-LS1-2).

Download Bengal Tiger Fact Sheet (PDF)

Questions

Questions visitors ask about tigers

Is a white tiger an albino?

No. A white tiger still makes black pigment, which is why it keeps dark stripes and colored eyes. A single gene change stops the red-yellow pigment that makes an ordinary tiger orange.

Is the white tiger a separate subspecies?

No. A white tiger is an ordinary tiger carrying a recessive gene; ours is a Bengal/Siberian mix. Both parents have to carry the gene, which is why the coloring is vanishingly rare in the wild.

How much does a tiger eat?

Tigers hunt about once a week and can eat as much as 75 pounds of food in one night, then go days without another kill.

Do tigers like water?

Yes. Tigers are strong swimmers and can cross wide rivers.

How many tigers live at Plumpton Park Zoo?

Two: Alexis and Miracle, one white and one orange. Both are Bengal/Siberian mixes. See also our Siberian tiger page.

Where can I see a tiger in Maryland?

At Plumpton Park Zoo in Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland. See Hours and Tickets for times and admission.



See our white tiger at Plumpton Park Zoo

Our tigers are part of a visit to Plumpton Park Zoo in Rising Sun, Maryland.

The zoo is in Cecil County, an easy drive from Delaware and southern Pennsylvania. While you are here, learn about Siberian tigers, meet our white lions and our brown bears, explore the Animal Learning Center, and feed a giraffe.

Hours & TicketsGet TicketsBengal Tiger Fact Sheet (PDF)