What immediate consequence resulted from breeders intensely seeking the rare recessive white coat gene?
Answer
A severe genetic bottleneck requiring inbreeding.
Because the desired white coat trait is both rare and recessive, the pool of available animals possessing or carrying the necessary genes to produce white cubs became exceptionally small in captive settings. To ensure the combination of two recessive alleles occurred repeatedly to achieve the desired aesthetic, breeders were compelled to engage in intensive and frequent breeding between closely related individuals. This practice, known as inbreeding, was necessary to maintain the desired visual characteristic but resulted in a severe genetic bottleneck, drastically limiting genetic diversity within the captive white tiger population.
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