The breeding of white tigers in captivity should be banned.

Tigers and other big cats were not designed for life in cages. Siberian Tigers will roam 400 square miles in the wild. There is no cage environment that gives them the level of freedom and stimulation that is their birthright. Those who justify keeping exotic animals in cages as a way to make people care about them in the wild obviously don't know much about big cats. A captive bred and caged big cat is a mere shadow of who their wild counterparts are and any lesson learned by watching a tiger in a cage is based upon faulty information.

As for the age old line that people will only protect what they care about, and thus some cats have to suffer decades of deprivation and abuse for the good of all tigers, can be laid to rest now. There is no big cat more common in zoos and back yard menageries than the tiger and at the current rate of poaching of one tiger a day and less than 4,000 left in the wild it is abundantly clear that keeping tigers in cages did nothing to save them in the wild.  
 
The numbers don't lie. In this online poll the statistics prove that seeing big cats in cages does not have a positive impact on saving them in the wild. 
 
Zoos say that having animals in cages causes people to support them in the wild. Based upon the amount of money that you have given to protect habitat, based upon seeing an animal in a cage, would you say this is True or False? 
 
Answers Votes Percent 
 
True 1372 34% 
 
False 2684 66%

White tigers may have no genetic conservation value, but they make up for this with their educational value. As mentioned in the summary, they are many people's favourite animal. Their presence in a zoo draws in visitors, who then have the chance to learn about animal welfare and the difficulties facing wild tigers.

White tigers are a symbol people focus on, and being able to see them in the flesh keeps people interested in animals and conservation.