Odin The Swimming White Bengal Tiger-Truth!

The Truth:  
According to an article by The Daily Mail in the United Kingdom written May 29, 2007, Odin the White Bengal Tiger is a resident of his very own Tiger Island at the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California.   The article claimed that the six year old 10 foot tiger is an excellent swimmer. 

The amusement theme park is located in Vallejo, California about 30 miles North of San Francisco.   Originally, it was "Marine World" located in Redwood Shores during the 1960's.  In 1972 it was purchased after a bankruptcy and merged with a failing animal park and renamed to "Marine World Africa USA."   In the 1980's the theme park relocated to Vallejo where it has gone through several transformations over the years including the addition of roller coaster type thrill rides.   In early 2007 the name was changed to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and became an animal park, marine park that included thrill rides.

Click for Daily Mail story

Click for Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

These incredible photos of a White Bengal Tiger named Odin.  Odin is six years old and 10 feet long from tail to nose. Odin lives at a Zoo in Vallejo, California, near San Francisco. Odin with his British trainer Lee Munro . Odin was hand-raised at the zoo. And after he was weaned, his British trainer Lee Munro discovered his remarkable skill. 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.
   

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. Plus they hunt in and around water. They're an ambush predator so they wait for prey to come down to the water. When you actually see him dive underwater he looks so graceful, Odin loves the water and he loves food, he said. "Not all big cats will dive and swim underwater even for meat treats."

Munro said tigers were the most powerful swimmers out of all land-dwelling animals. Tragically, within our lifetimes, zoos might be the only places left to see these magnificent animals. 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. White tigers are the most rare. They get their white color from an unusual and extremely rare genetic combination.

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