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Although many people believe it to be a mythical creature, the blue tiger may be a rare species of feline. Also known as the Maltese tiger, it would have a light gray coloration that makes the animal appear almost blue. These types of tigers have only been reported in human sightings, and no photos or videos of the animals have been recorded.
Sightings of blue-colored tigers have been reported since the early 20th century. These blue cats could also simply be extinct tigers, which explains the lack of physical evidence for their existence. Reports of sightings vary in location, although most of them originate from areas of China, such as Fujian province. If tigers exist, they are likely to be a subspecies of the South China tiger. Other places where the blue tiger has been seen include Burma and Korea.
People who reported seeing the blue tiger called it by many other names. Some villages referred to the creature as blue demons and claimed that they were man-eating beasts that often hunted down humans. This sparked the interest of many hunters in the big cat, who tried unsuccessfully to locate and kill the blue tiger for its fur. Some researchers claim that a blue tiger was born in Oklahoma during the 1960s. However, there is no record of this and many scientists believe the animal was probably a pseudomelanistic tiger, or black tiger, whose stripes were very thick and close together. . .
Cryptozoologists continue to study and research the animals, hoping to get some kind of proof that they are real. Some scientists believe the animals are an example of a non-threatening mutation resulting from genetics, much like the coloration of the endangered white tiger. A pair of recessive alleles, or gene forms, known as the non-agouti allele and the dilute allele, are cited as possible reasons for the blue tiger’s coloration, as are several other alleles.
Domestic cats with this color, such as the Russian Blue variety, help serve as proof that that cat color can exist in a larger form. If a blue tiger really did exist, the researchers say it would like to have been very faded, with no visible band due to its color. Blue examples of other wild cats such as bobcats have also been reported. The interest in hunting the tiger, together with the rarity of its recessive genes, may explain its rarity or extinction.