The Tiger
Class - Mammalia
Order - Carnivora
Family - Felidae
Genus - Panthera
Species - Tigris
- 1998 is The Year of The Tiger.
- The next Year of The Tiger is in 2010.
- There are only about 4,000-7,700 tigers left in the wild.
- There are 8 recognized sub-species of tigers. Three of those sub-species are now considered extinct.
Some interesting facts on tigers.
Appearance:
- The tiger is the largest of the cat family. They are light orange to ochre in color with dark stripes. The underbelly, chest and inside of the limbs is white to a light cream in color.
- The pattern of stripes, called disruptive coloration, serves as camoflauge in grass or forest shadows. No two patterns are the same. They are as distinctive as human finger prints.
- The tiger has no mane but older males will grow longer cheek hair.
- They are heavily muscled.
- Their hind legs are longer than the front legs to aid in leaping.
- They have the largest teeth of all the carnivores.
- The tiger, unlike the ordinary house cat has round pupils. They have a yellow iris, except the White Bengal, which has a blue iris. Their eyes are placed towards the sides of the head to improve their field of vision. The tiger has night vision that is six times better than a human.
Location:
- The tiger can be found across Asia, from the humid tropics of Malaysia and Indonesia, to the steaming jungles of Sumatra. In the seasonally dry grasslands, bamboo and mangrove forests of India and through the forests of China, to the coniferous forests and freezing snows of Siberia.
Food:
- The tiger's diet consists of deer, buffalo, wild pig, peafowl, badger, hare, fish, frogs, and an occasional porcupine.
- They usually avoid large healthy animals but records have shown a few elephant kills.
- Tigers are nocturnal and hunt by night.
- They must creep within about 65 ft. of their prey.
- Tigers can leap about 15 to 20 ft.
- They leap out at their prey and chase them, bringing them down from the rear with their claws.
- Their powerful jaws crush the necks of smaller prey, while strangling larger animals.
- If the initial leap and burst of speed fails the tiger has to give up the chase and wait for another opportunity.
- Only about 1 in 10 tries results in a kill.
- The tiger will stay near its kill until it is completely gone except for the skin and bones.
- They feed from the hindquarters first.
- Tigers can consume upwards of 65 to 100lbs. of meat a night.
Habits:
- Territories of males can range from about 20 to over 600 square miles depending on the availability of prey.
- Female's ranges are smaller and may overlap territories of other females or males.
- Males never share territories with other males.
- Tigers mark their territories by depositing a mixture of urine and anal gland secretions on rocks, bushes and trees. They also leave scratch marks on trees.
- A tiger's roar can be heard up to 2 miles away.
- Tigers are solitary animals. Their usual family unit is a mother and her cubs.
- They only come together for mating.
- The mating urge causes increased adrenaline and passion in the big cats making them much more dangerous.
- They reach sexual maturity by 3 to 4 years.
- Females come in heat only once a year and mate for a period of about 2 days.
- Gestation period is 95 to 112 days.
Cubs:
- There are 2-4 cubs per litter who are totally dependant upon the mother.
- They weigh about 2-3lbs and are about 12" at birth.
- Eyes open at about 14 days of age.
- They triple in size and are weaned by the time they are 8-10 weeks old.
- They have light fur that darkens by 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 months.
- They are able to hunt on their own by 12-18 months.
- They will remain in the mothers territory till they are about 2 to 2 1/2 years old.
- The mother won't breed again until the cubs are on their own.
Water:
- Tigers are one of the few cats that actually like the water.
- They are strong swimmers who can swim up to 3-4 minutes.
- They enjoy bathing, and keep cool in the warm weather by relaxing in pools of cool water.
- Tigers will also mate in the water to escape the buzzing of insects.
This page is under construction!
The Bali Tiger
panthera
tigris
balica
The Bali Tiger was a dark orange with fewer stripes
than the other subspecies. This tiger is considered to be extinct. The last known Bali Tiger was shot by a hunter in 1937.
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The Royal Bengal Tiger
panthera
tigris
tigris
The Royal Bengal or Indian Tiger is the most numerous of the tiger subspecies. There are estimated to be between 3,000-7,000 of these cats left in the wild. Some estimates say there are approximately 4,000 in India, 300 in Napal, 350 in Bangladesh and 50 in Bhutan. There are also several hundred kept in zoos but they are being cross bred with the other subspecies.
- Appearance
- Bright reddish tan fur with dark stripes.
- A white spot above each eye.
- Males average 9-10 ft. from the tip of their nose to the tip of their tail.
- They weigh between 400 and 575lbs.
- The are approximately 36" at the shoulder.
- They are 15% larger then the African lion.
- They have the chinese mark of the Wang or King on their forehead.
- Location
- India, Napal and western Burma.
- Primarily found in Mangrove forests.
- Food
- Wild ox, buffalo, axis deer, wild boar, monkeys and an occasional porcupine
There are also White Bengal Tigers. These beautiful animals are born of two parents who carry the recessive white gene. For more info on the white tiger please visit the white tiger page of the picture gallery.
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The Caspian Tiger
panthera
tigris
virgata
The last Caspian Tiger was seen in Afghanistan in the 1967 but a fresh skin was believed to have been found in eastern Turkey in 1973. This tiger is considered to be extinct now. The Caspian Tiger was similar in appearance to the Royal Bengal. It roamed the farthest west of all the tigers. It was found in Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and the former Soviet Union.
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The Indo-Chinese Tiger
panthera
tigris
corbetti
The Indo-Chinese or Corbetts Tiger is smaller and darker than the Bengal Tiger. They have short stipes that end in spots. They roam mainland SE Asia. There are only about 1,000-1750 of these tigers left in the wild.
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The Javan Tiger
panthera
tigris
sondaicus
The Javan Tiger was named after the Indonesian island of Java where it lived. It was similar to the Sumatran Tiger in appearance but it was darker and the stripes were closer together. This tiger is believed to be extinct. There have been no traces of it since the late 1970s when up to 5 were believed to survive.
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The Siberian Tiger
panthera
tigris
altaica
The Siberian Tiger, also called the Amur or Manchurian Tiger is the second rarest of the tiger subspecies. In 1970 there were believed to be about 250 left in the wild. In 1994 the estimate was 150-200. Conservationists now believe there are about 300-430 of them. There are between 600-1,000 in captivity.
- Appearance
- The Siberian Tiger has longer, paler, softer fur. 2-4" long on the back and tummy.
- They have a thicker longer winter coat for the below -50 degree weather.
- In the summer it keeps cool by staying in the shade and cool pools of water.
- Stripes are short and brown, grey, redish brown to black
- The tail is banded black with a black tip.
- Whiskers, belly, chest and inside of the limbs are white to light cream.
- Males can reach 700lbs. and are about 13 ft. nose to tail.
- Females are about 100lbs. lighter than males.
- Largest of the tiger subspecies.
- Location
- Northern China and Siberia.
- Sikhote-Alin mountain range inn the SE corner of Russia
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The South China Tiger
panthera
tigris
amoyensis
The South China or Chinese Tiger is the most endangered of the tiger subspecies. There are only from 20 to 50 of these cats left in the wild. There are about 35 in captivity thoughout China. This cat is found in eastern China. The South China Tiger is thought to be the main tiger that all the other subspecies stemmed from.
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The Sumatran Tiger
panthera
tigris
sumatae
The Sumatran Tiger is the smallest of the tiger subspecies. They are found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. In 1978 there were 1,000 of these cats in the wild. Estimates now range between 400-600 left. There are approximately 235 Sumatrans in captivity. Zoos account for some of this number with 107 in Europe, 58 in Indonesia, 58 in North America, 6 in Australia, and 2 in Japan.
The male Sumatran Tiger is smaller than the Bengal female, weighing in at around 400-600lbs. They are 2 1/2ft at the shoulder and 7 to 9ft long. Their fur is a dark red with cream colored areas. They have long black stripes that are often in double layers.
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