KENNY: THE INBRED TIGER WITH “DOWN SYNDROME”
Pictures have been circulating the internet about a white tiger with down syndrome. Kenny’s diagnosis of down syndrome is questionable. But what is sure is that he was a victim of inbreeding. White tigers are rare and to ensure that the offspring would be a white tiger, Kenny’s parents were brother and sister. A lot of his siblings were stillborns or died very young.
But despite all this, breeders kept trying to mate Kenny’s parents. When parents are very closely related, there is a higher chance of both parents carrying the same “bad” gene. So there is a greater risk for their child to have a dominant bad gene.
Kenny lived to be 10 years old. Kenny was described as non-aggressive and very friendly.
Kenny didn’t have Down Syndrome; his deformities were due to the severe amount of inbreeding needed to produce a white tiger. White tigers all suffer from a myriad of health problems including spinal deformities, cleft palates (Kenny), club feet, mental impairments, defective organs, immune deficiencies, hip dysplasia, and bulging eyes. Do not support facilities that breed for color mutations as they’re breeding for exploitation instead of conservation.
literally tho. if ur gonna be all “nah ur making that up he just had down syndrome u fucking animal rights activist” then here have a bit of science:
“ The diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome is also questionable. Down’s Syndrome results from a third copy of chromosome 21. Although a mouse model for Down’s Syndrome exists, tigers have 19 chromosomes to humans’ 23. While Kenny’s face does bear a superficial resemblance to that seen in people with Down’s Syndrome, it’s far from clear that this was the result of a third copy of any chromosome, let alone one that could be matched to our 21st.”
(taken from this site: http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/kenny-white-tiger-reveals-price-inbreeding)
it would be very neat to claim that a tiger had the syndrome. after all, the down syndrome is not related to inbreeding, right? but yea, kenny having the down syndrome is impossible (since tigers have just 19 chromosomes), and considering he’s white (all white tigers are inbred for their beautiful coat color, which is a result of a double recessive gene), it is much more logical to assume that he indeed suffered from cleft palates (and all the health issues that come with inbreeding).
so yea. don’t glorify white tigers. you’re only glorifying a captive, inbred, sick population while there are about 3600 healthy, wild ones out there that need our attention, or else they’ll face extinction within 20 years. have fun with ur magical white tigers then.