The sighting of another extremely rare golden tiger in a sanctuary in India seems like it should be cause for wonder and excitement. And indeed, it is amazing to see a golden tiger walking freely in a national park. What a beautiful, majestic animal, so rare that it seems like a sign heralding something mystical and of great importance.
It’s true; seeing this golden tiger was a big sign, as you’ll see, but maybe not what we’d expect. Other names for golden tigers are strawberry tigers or golden tabby tigers, which Marmalade might prefer!
Golden tiger at India’s Kaziranga National Park, picture via Instagram/Gaurav Ramnarayanan
Golden Tabby Tiger in India’s Kaziranga National Park
It must have been the shock of a lifetime when photographer Gaurav Ramnarayanan spotted a golden tabby tiger on the night of January 24, 2024. It happened while leading a private tour group in the national park. After hearing a deer make an alert noise, he drove to see what predator was nearby, never expecting what he found!
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A Strawberry Blond Giant
Less than half a mile away, the tiger with strawberry-blond stripes was walking in the road. Rather than running off, the tiger continued toward the jeep, reaching 328 feet (100 meters) from the tiger. Clearly, the cat is very used to seeing tour groups in the park.
“The tiger decided to come towards us, not with any intention for attack or any intention to harm us, but purely to pass through his path and proceed with marking his territory,” Ramnarayanan said.
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What Does Seeing a Golden Tiger Point To?
This cat is spectacular, and spotting such rare cats always boosts tourism and interest. To be honest, we don’t like thinking about people poking around near endangered species at all. But on the other hand, those dollars encourage maintaining the parks and paying for armed guards for the animals to protect from poachers. Yep, that’s the world we all live in now.
Unfortunately, scientists and ecologists point out that the downside of seeing a golden tiger is that it points to inbreeding. A golden tiger inherits recessive traits from both parents and when they are genetically related, it generally harms health. There’s also the potential for genetic drift, the random chance of rare genetic variants suddenly becoming more common.
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Thus, the sighting of a beautiful golden tiger is a sign indeed! It means the animals need room to roam to find mates that aren’t direct relatives. In their limited range, the dating pool isn’t ideal. Besides that, white or golden tigers, pretty as they are, don’t have an edge for survival as it is.
Video by The Federal showing the Golden Tiger:
How Rare are Golden Tabby Tigers?
People are always interested in the rarity of coat colors, including with house cats like brown kitties. It just seems to be part of human nature, but as we know, that obsession often leads to cruelty and harm to the animals.
Both golden and white tigers were first seen among wild Bengal tigers in India. But white tigers haven’t been seen in the wild since the 1950s! In captivity, it’s a different story, but that’s due to inbreeding for the recessive genes that cause the white morph, with about 200 in captivity worldwide. People want to see them and it boost revenue, so they are inbred as a result. You can see more about that here.
While both color variants are rare, there may be only about 30 golden tigers in captivity.
Goldie the Tiger
There have been sightings of golden tigers in India’s Kaziranga National Park since 2014. In 2019, a photographer, Mayuresh Hendre, shared stunning pictures of a female golden tiger dubbed ‘Goldie’ seen in the park. At the time, it was the first verified recording of a golden tiger in the wild in the 21st century.
Video by Way to the Wild:
It’s a Sign! – More Parks and Wildlife Corridors, Underpasses, and Bridges
As seen in the video above, Hendre advocated for tigers, explaining that seeing a golden tabby tiger is not a cause for joy. Instead, it indicates inbreeding and lack of territory. To help the animals, he suggested the need for tiger corridors to allow the cats to extend their range.
It’s a lot like what folks are doing in California for Mountain Lions and in Texas for Ocelots (bridges and underpasses for wildlife). But wouldn’t it be golden if we would leave larger protected areas of land to connect larger habitats? We can and must make more room for wildlife, with corridors for them so they may coexist with us for generations to come. If you think it’s a good idea, talk with people about it. We believe it’s entirely pawsible!
Below, a video from 2022 caught a ‘Golden Royal Bengal’ tiger moving in the park with two friends.
Video by Kaziranga Adventures:
Featured image: Screenshot via YouTube with image by Gaurav Ramnarayanan
