Health defects like strabismus in captive white tigers are caused by what underlying issue?
The accumulation of other recessive disorders from intensive inbreeding.
The documented health problems, such as strabismus (misaligned eyes), compromised immune systems, kidney issues, and skeletal deformities, are not inherent defects caused by the specific gene responsible for the white coat itself. Instead, these ailments are the secondary result of the intensive inbreeding practices employed to concentrate the white coat gene. When closely related animals are repeatedly bred, recessive genetic disorders that are unrelated to coloration but exist within that small gene pool are unintentionally shuffled and combined, leading to the manifestation of these serious, non-pigment-related health defects across the captive population exhibiting the white trait.
