Black tiger cub in the wild
This tiger cub with their mother is described as a 'black tiger cub in the wild' by the ranger in his tweet. The cub is not entirely black. It is only melanistic wild cats which are near black with faint markings. This cub is what is called a pseudo-melanistic tiger cub. It brings to mind a pseudo-melanistic tiger cub that was born in Oklahoma zoo but was killed by their mother. The cub's body was preserved as a curiosity. Black tiger cub in the wild. Image: Twitter page of Susanta Nanda. This is due to a genetic mutation. If this is a recessive genetic mutation, which it is as far as I know, the inbreeding of the tiger is going to allow this mutated recessive gene to come forward and show itself in terms of phenotype i.e. the appearance of the tiger. It is only through inbreeding that this recessive gene has the chance to work and dictate the nature of the coat. To the best of my knowledge, there are no confirmed reports of pure black non-striped tigers i.e. true melan...