Affects all melanin production, resulting in pink or red eyes due to visible blood vessels.
, not a conservation goal. While these animals are vital for public engagement and education, the "gold standard" of conservation biology remains the preservation of wild-type genetics Affects all melanin production, resulting in pink or
Albino tigers or white lions drive ticket sales. This creates a perverse incentive to breed for aesthetics rather than health. Historically, this has led to disastrous consequences. The white tiger population in captivity, for example, has suffered from severe inbreeding (father-to-daughter and brother-to-sister breeding) to maintain the white coat, resulting in cubs with cleft palates, scoliosis, and immune deficiencies. This creates a perverse incentive to breed for
Small and isolated populations are susceptible to loss of genetic diversity due to random genetic drift and inbreeding. This loss of diversity may reduce evolutionary potential to adapt to changing environments and may cause immediate loss of fitness through inbreeding depression. Successful conservation of threatened species thus requires attention not merely to population numbers but to the genetic health of those populations. Small and isolated populations are susceptible to loss