White tigers differ from their black-and-orange cousins only in colour, he said. They have the same natural instincts as all the big cats, which he described as 'nature's killing machines', programmed to respond in a certain way - for example, when a stranger enters their territory.
'When they feel provoked, attacking that intruder is just hard-wired into their system,' he said.
Referring to the sequences of pictures showing the white tigers setting upon Mr Nordin Montong, Mr Guha said the white tigers looked upon him like a novel object, or a prey.
'They toyed with him and tossed him around. It is a bit like what you would see in the wild, when a large predator has a prey by its throat,' he said.
Turning to the subject of the diet of the zoo's three tigers, he said they are given beef, pork, mutton and chicken.
Token feedings, amounting to 3kg to 5kg per tiger, are given daily; full feedings of 7kg per animal happen three times a week.
'For token feeding sessions, keepers usually toss the meat into the enclosure. This happens at 2.20pm every day. For full feedings, food is left in each tiger's den at the end of the day,' he said.
JESSICA LIM