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White tigers in the USA In 1960, at the age of two, white tiger Mohini was purchased by a businessman (the Radio Corporation of America) and donated her to the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Two keepers travelled to Rewa, India to collect the tigress. They carried a letter from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry authorising her export, but the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in New Delhi refused to honour it claiming that the tigress was a national treasure. After many hours of talking, officials accepted that her export would not adversely affect India's supply of wild tigers and eleven men carried her to the plane. The keepers watched her day and night, even going so far as to sleep on her cage. On December 5th 1960, Mohini was presented to President Eisenhower in a ceremony performed on the lawn of the White House. Breeding Mohini: Mohini was mated with Sampson, her normal colored half-brother. Their first litter produced one white cub and two normal colored cubs. Only the colored male, Ramana, survived. The second litter produced two cubs but neither were white. One was stillborn but the female, Kesari survived. Mohini , who had been born to her father and her sister, was now mated with her son, Ramana. Their first litter was Rawati , a white female, and a colored male who died. The next litter produced two white and three colored cubs. One was stillborn, three were said to be crushed by the mother, and Moni survived. Then brother and sister, Ramana and Kesari , whose mother's father was also her grandfather, and whose father was the brother of their grandmother, were mated. They produced three white and one colored cub. It is obvious why many white tigers of the Mohan line carry the genes for not only white coats and blue eyes, but also crossed eyes, hip and back problems, shunts and malformities. Most of the white tigers in the United States today came from this bloodline. From the National Zoo they went to other zoos, major attractions and exhibitions.
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