It's been more than half-a-century since a white tiger was last seen in the wild. The last one know to roam freely was shot in 1958, and the hundreds who remain now live in captivity.
On Monday, one of those captive tigers fatally mauled a man at a zoo in Japan. But rather than opt for revenge, his family is intent on keeping the rare animal alive.
Zookeeper Akira Furusho was found gravely injured in a white tiger enclosure in Hirakawa Zoological Park on Monday, bleeding from his neck, local media reported. He was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Although there were apparently no witnesses to the attack, Riku, a white tiger in the enclosure, was sedated with a tranquilizer while police investigate the death. Riku, who was born in the zoo, weighs around 374 pounds.
Takuro Nagasako, a zoo official, told Agence France-Presse that the zoo plans "not to kill Riku and will continue to keep it because the bereaved family asked us to do so."
The Associated Press reported that zoo officials believed Furusho may have been trying to move the tiger between its two cages when the attack took place.
White tigers are not their own species. They are Bengal tigers that inherited a recessive gene that makes their fur white, according to National Geographic. The Japan Times reported that the Hirakawa Zoo is home to four white tigers, but that their exhibit remained closed on Tuesday.
When tigers come in close contact with humans, they can feel threatened and attack. Local media reported that zoo employees are not supposed to enter tigers' enclosures until they've been safely moved.
In India, officials are still searching for a female tiger suspected of killing 13 people. The New York Times reported on Monday that they are now using a Calvin Klein Obsession cologne to try to lure her in. Forestry officials hope civetone, a compound in the cologne, will attract the cat.
In 2008, a similar incident to Monday's attack took place, when a Siberian tiger mauled a zookeeper at the Kyoto City Zoo in Japan, killing him. It was a visitor who discovered Atsushi Ito, 40, who had tried to clean the tiger's enclosure.
"When we found him, he was lying in the tiger's bedroom. There was blood on the ground," zoo official Toshiaki Yamamoto said at the time, according to Reuters. "It seems like he was bitten, then dragged around the room."