Blue is the rarest color in the animal kingdom. Very few animals have blue color on their bodies. Are tigers one of these animals? Are the blue tigers real or fake?
There are many cryptids in the world, and blue tigers are one of them. This means their existence is disputed. Only stories and isolated information about the animal are found. No photos or video recordings are found of the blue tigers.
How Do We See Colors?
We can only see a color of a surface whenever the light is reflected from it. The light reflected from any surface is the color of that surface.
Blue is very rare in wildlife, meaning that the reflected light from the surface of the body of most animals is not blue.
Only certain birds and butterflies are found blue. This is because the microscopic scales on their wings are designed in a manner so that only the blue light can be reflected from them.
If there truly exists blue tigers in any corner of the deep jungles in any part of the world, their fur is so designed microscopically that it can reflect only blue light.
Are Blue Tigers Real or Fake?
Blue tigers or Maltese tigers are one of the most famous cryptids in the world. This means that their existence is disputed or unsubstantiated. Simply put, no evidence of their existence (photos, video recordings, or a piece of fur) was ever found. Only stories and legends are heard.
Many tiger hunters, farmers, and locals claim that they have seen a blue tiger. However, most of their descriptions are unclear and lack reality.
Hence, scientists are still confused about the color of the blue tigers. Some scientists believe the blue tiger is actually gray or a little darker in color. This dark color might appear blue under different lighting conditions in the deep jungles.
However, nobody is entirely sure. Scientists cannot just claim the existence of an entirely different species just based on human sightings and stories.
However, they are thrilled and very excited to see one cruising in the wild. Imagine an entirely blue tiger ruling the deep forests with all its might and mysterious existence. Hence, the existence of blue tigers would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it?
Besides, blue cats exist worldwide, even if they are extremely rare. For example, the Russian blue cat, the British blue cat, the bobcat, the lynx, and many more exist.
Thus, it would not be shocking if, one day, an actual blue tiger jumps out in public from the shades of the deepest jungles. You would be amazed to know just how little we know about the undiscovered forests and jungles yet.
Places of Sighting Blue Tigers
The three places where the blue tiger or the Maltese tiger is reported are:
- China
- Korea
- Burma
However, most blue tigers are sighted in the Fuihan province of China. Again, most of the Maltese blue tigers were reported as the subspecies of the extremely rare South Chinese Tiger.
Many hunters, farmers, and locals from these places have reported sightings of blue tigers.
Besides, a very famous article claims that in 1964, a blue tiger cub was born at the Oklahoma zoo. Sadly the poor cub was killed by its mother when it was only a baby.
Are Blue Tigers the Rarest Tiger?
The blue tiger is undoubtedly one of the rarest species in the world. However, their existence is unsure. The only rarest tiger with undisputed existence is the South China tiger.
The subspecies of the South China tiger are extinct in the wild. The last of them were sighted in the wild during an expedition in 2003. They were the main target of poachers back then.
Poachers used to hunt the tigers illegally for their fur, claws, teeth, bones, and even blood. As a result, only a few South China tigers are now alive that too in captivity in special care.
Conclusion
Blue tigers are so rare that their existence is still unsure till now. Even though we are living in the satellite and information era, there are still some mysteries that the forests like to hold on to. One of these mysteries includes the existence of blue tigers. Whether Maltese tigers exist or not, they still attract curious people around the world like magnets.
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