Because the genes for an orange coat are dominant, the vast majority of tigers are born orange, even when one or both parents are white. As a result, tiger breeders end up with a surplus of orange cubs in their never-ending quest for more white tigers. What's worse, many white cubs are born dead, unhealthy, or seriously disfigured due to inbreeding, making them unfit for public consumption. This leaves an uncomfortable question: What happens to all these rejected tigers?

With few reputable zoos interested in genetically unsound tigers, many end up being sold to far more nefarious outlets, like roadside zoos, private collections, and pseudo-sanctuaries. As anyone who has watched Netflix's 2020 docuseries "Tiger King" knows, this is far from a happy fate. Others are sold into the lucrative – but disreputable – "cub-petting" trade, in which paying customers can cuddle, hold, and take selfies with baby tigers. But, of course, these cubs eventually grow up.

In the end, most unwanted tigers meet an early death. Though they can live up to 20 years, few of the estimated tens of thousands of tigers in captivity ever reach that age. Feeding an adult tiger is expensive, and, once they become unprofitable, they are cruelly dispatched, used in canned hunts, or sold on the black market for their valuable organs. Overall, some 30 to 60 tigers die in the process of breeding a single desirable white tiger.

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