1964 Oklahoma Zoo “Blue” Tiger Cub

sydneybirdlady

sydneybirdlady

Member
hello!
does anyone have any information on the “blue” (it was more like smokey) tiger cub born at the oklahoma zoo in 1964? i’ve been able to find one image of the cub specimen, but it was without a source and i couldn’t find it anywhere else. if you hadn’t heard of this before, it’s often cited as the first captive blue maltese tiger (although the cub was killed almost immediately by the mother). it seems the zoo claimed it was a blue tiger, though again, i can’t find a source for this. from the image and witnesses, it seems that the cub had absolutely no hint of blue. the okc zoo being my home zoo, i want to find more about why they claimed this a “blue” tiger (or if that part is simply a rumor as well). thanks!
 
here’s a link to where i found the image
MUTANT BIG CATS
and the image itself
blktigercub.jpg
 
Strange... OKC is also my home zoo, I'm pretty familiar with its history, and I've never heard about this. I'm almost certain that specimen is not within the zoo's biofact collection either, although I could be wrong. I reverse-image searched that picture, and only found a couple of similarly sketchy cryptid sites referencing it, but one did attribute the claim to Dr. Warren Thomas, who succeeded Julian Frazier as director in 1959. Thomas has been dead for 2 decades now, so not much hope of asking him.
 
sydneybirdlady said:
Thank you! Do you think perhaps it was misquoted as blue and thus sparking the whole rumor?
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My interpretation would be the tiger cub was labelled as blue given this is a colour of various domestic animals e.g. breeds of cat; rather than the tiger actually being blue. The explanation of the tiger being partly melanistic is far more plausable and no doubt the source of the confusion.
 
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Phoenicopterus said:
Strange... OKC is also my home zoo, I'm pretty familiar with its history, and I've never heard about this. I'm almost certain that specimen is not within the zoo's biofact collection either, although I could be wrong. I reverse-image searched that picture, and only found a couple of similarly sketchy cryptid sites referencing it, but one did attribute the claim to Dr. Warren Thomas, who succeeded Julian Frazier as director in 1959. Thomas has been dead for 2 decades now, so not much hope of asking him.
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This is why it intrigues me! Back when I was younger, I did a some googling about the blue photoshopped tigers I kept seeing all over pinterest, and all the little cryptid web pages kept repeating that there had been a captive blue tiger born in oklahoma. Young me was like wow how cool! and that was that. Something recently reminded me of it however and I realized it was strange how I never heard anything said about it since. I guess what I want to know is what gave rise to this infamous rumor, and why it keeps being cited as proof to the “blue tiger”’s existence. Thank you for your input!! Do you think the specimen in the image is truly the one born in 1964?
 
Zoofan15 said:
My interpretation would be the tiger cub was labelled as blue given this is a colour of various domestic animals e.g. breeds of cat; rather than the tiger actually being blue. The explanation of the tiger being partly melanistic is far more plausable and no doubt the source of the confusion.
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I think you’re probably right. Makes sense. Thanks!
 
sydneybirdlady said:
Do you think the specimen in the image is truly the one born in 1964?
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Hard to say! I would love to see the actual specimen itself, but I have no idea where it could be- I don't think it's at the zoo. Another contender would be the Sam Noble museum, I kind of doubt it's there but I might just ask around. My guess is that it's in some eccentric Oklahoman's personal cabinet of curiosities.

I think Zoofan15 is probably right about the actual coat color, but it's still interesting to me that I've never heard this cub discussed at the zoo. Of course, most current zoo staff weren't even born in 1964 and none were working at the zoo at the time, so maybe it's just fallen out of the oral history of the place. If I had to guess, I would say that the story was probably kept quiet at the time for PR reasons, and then mostly forgotten.

I'm admittedly a bit obsessed with the zoo's history, and I've heard a lot of stories about the place (some probably apocryphal). I'm also now very familiar with the former cat grottoes that would have housed those tigers in 1964, which were abandoned and overgrown until they became Raptor Ridge. I find it pretty fascinating to imagine tiger introductions and breeding (notoriously a pretty... intense process) in those facilities.

Incidentally, if you're also interested in the zoo's history, I'd absolutely recommend this book (and its sequel) by Amy Dee Stephens, a local historian and former zoo educator. It's a real treasure trove of historical photos with accompanying bits of zoo history and lore. I think you can buy it in the gift shop.
 
Phoenicopterus said:
Hard to say! I would love to see the actual specimen itself, but I have no idea where it could be- I don't think it's at the zoo. Another contender would be the Sam Noble museum, I kind of doubt it's there but I might just ask around. My guess is that it's in some eccentric Oklahoman's personal cabinet of curiosities.

I think Zoofan15 is probably right about the actual coat color, but it's still interesting to me that I've never heard this cub discussed at the zoo. Of course, most current zoo staff weren't even born in 1964 and none were working at the zoo at the time, so maybe it's just fallen out of the oral history of the place. If I had to guess, I would say that the story was probably kept quiet at the time for PR reasons, and then mostly forgotten.

I'm admittedly a bit obsessed with the zoo's history, and I've heard a lot of stories about the place (some probably apocryphal). I'm also now very familiar with the former cat grottoes that would have housed those tigers in 1964, which were abandoned and overgrown until they became Raptor Ridge. I find it pretty fascinating to imagine tiger introductions and breeding (notoriously a pretty... intense process) in those facilities.

Incidentally, if you're also interested in the zoo's history, I'd absolutely recommend this book (and its sequel) by Amy Dee Stephens, a local historian and former zoo educator. It's a real treasure trove of historical photos with accompanying bits of zoo history and lore. I think you can buy it in the gift shop.
Click to expand...
I may be getting a volunteer position at the Sam Noble soon (if I’m lucky) and if so I may ask someone! It’s a cool little piece of the zoos history. Thank you for the book recommendation, I’ll definitely pick it up next time I visit because I definitely am interested in the history of this zoo as well. :):):)
 
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