Pictured: Astonishing photos of rare white Bengal tiger in feeding frenzy



When it’s feeding time at the zoo, it’s still a jungle out there.

Although food is plentiful, there’s always a fierce battle to grab your share.

Its teeth bared, a white Bengal tiger lunges into the water ready to snap up whatever is thrown its way.

Photographer Birte Person captured these spectacular shots as the tiger and five others did the closest thing they could to hunting at Singapore Zoo.

White tigers are almost extinct and most of those that survive are in captivity. In the past century only 12 have been spotted in the wild.

They are neither an albino nor a separate subspecies. Instead, they are a genetic hiccup, which happens naturally once in every 10,000 Bengal tiger births.

The result is a tiger with white fur, black stripes, blue eyes and a pink nose.

Birte, 62, from New South Wales, Australia, was at the zoo for the tigers’ tea-time.

‘They sit in anticipation on the rocks waiting for the first morsel to be thrown,’ she said.

‘Then it is a huge lunge into the water by all of them.

‘It carries on at a frantic pace until they all get some food.’

She continued: 'Singapore has one of the largest collections of white tigers in the world and runs a very efficient breeding and conservation program.

Force of nature: White tigers are almost extinct and most of those that survive are in captivity

White tigers are born to a Bengal Tiger that has the recessive gene needed for white colouring and happens naturally once in every 10,000 births

'When these photos were taken I was on my way to another conservation shoot in Asia but decided I had to stop and look at these magnificent creatures.

'They sit in anticipation on the rocks waiting for the first morsel to be thrown, then it is a huge lunge into the water by all of them.

Birte says that Singapore has one of the largest collections of white tigers in the world and runs a very efficient breeding and conservation program

'Because it happens so quickly it is very difficult to get photos like this - I'm very pleased with them.'

Bengal tigers are fully grown at two to three years of age and live for up to 15 years in the wild. Males weigh 200-230 kilograms and are up to three metres in length.

The females are 130-70 kilograms and up to 2.5 metres long.



