| These incredible photos are of a White Bengal Tiger named
Odin. |
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| Odin is six years old and 10 feet long from
tail to nose. Odin lives at a Zoo in Vallejo, California, near
San Francisco. |
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| Odin with his British trainer Lee Munro. |
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| Odin was hand-raised at the zoo. And after he
was weaned, his British trainer Lee Munro discovered his
remarkable skill. |
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When a lump of meat was thrown into a pool of
water, Odin would happily dive in after it.
'He makes a funny face - and it's actually to close his nostrils
to stop the water from going into his nose.' |
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| Not all big cats enjoy the water but for
Tigers from the hot climate of South-East Asia it's one way to
cool down. |
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| 'Plus they hunt in and around water. They're
an ambush predator so they wait for prey to come down to the
water.' |
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| 'When you actually see him dive underwater he
looks so graceful,' |
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| 'Odin loves the water and he loves food,' he
said. 'Not all big cats will dive and Swim underwater even for
meat treats.' |
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| Munro said tigers were the most powerful
swimmers out of all land-dwelling animals. |
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| Tragically, within our lifetimes, zoos might
be the only places left to see these magnificent animals. |
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| A century ago there were about 100,000 tigers
in the wild. Now there are just 2,500 Adults, with the Bengal
variety almost extinct. None has been seen in the wild since the
last white tiger was shot and killed in 1958. |
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| White tigers are the most rare. They get
their white color from an unusual and
extremely rare genetic combination. |
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