about tiger

Tigers are the biggest cats in the world. They live in wet, humid and hot jungles as well as icy cold forests. There are five different kinds or subspecies of tiger which are still alive today. These tigers are called Siberian, Indochinese, South China, Bengal, and Sumatran. Their Latin name is Panthera tigris. Tigers are an endangered species; only about 4,870 to 7,300 tigers are left in the wild. Three tiger subspecies, which are now extinct are: the Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers. They have become so over the last 70 years..People admire the tiger for its strength and beauty, but they fear it because they are known to kill human beings, yet almost all-wild tigers avoid people. Probably only 3 or 4 out of every 1000 tigers eat people and most of these are sick or wounded animals, that can no longer hunt large prey. Wild tigers are found mostly in India. Until the 1800’s many lived throughout most of the southern half of the continent.

types of tigers

There are five tiger subspecies including the Indian or Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) - it is a powerful animal with very distinct markings. they .breed at any time of the year.

Siberian or Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) - It is the largest type of all tigers, with an average length of 2.8 meters. It is some what pale in colour having fever stripes and a longer and thicker coat in winter. They have their cubs during the spring.

White Tigers.

All the white tigers we know of are a color variation of Bengal tigers. White tigers are only born to parents that both carry the recessive gene for white coloring. Wild white tigers are very rare, and today they can only be seen in zoos. The white tigers are neither albinos (in which case they would have pink eyes), nor a separate species; they have chocolate stripes and blue eyes, although several variations in eye and stripe color are seen. The first mutant 'white' cub is believed to be the one trapped by the Maharaja of Rewa, who found it orphaned in the jungle in 1951. Named Mohan, the cub was later . mated to a normal-colored captive tigress who produced three litters with normal coloring. A few years later, Mohan mated with one of the offspring, producing the first litter of white cubs-these were to be the ancestors of others now in many zoos the world over.

Tigers used to range over much of Asia. There were eight separate sub-species. At the beginning of the l9th Century there were about 100,000 tigers in the world. Today the outlook for the Tiger is very bleak. Although no thorough census has been conducted, it is estimated the world population of tigers is less than 8,000.

Its habits and inclination limit tiger in its choice of a habitat by its physical make up. Climate was no obstruction to its migration provided it could find shelter from the heat. Forest gives the shelter to the tiger and where there is forest there is water to quench its insistent thirst. Forest also makes assemblage of large herbivorous animals which the tiger must have for food, and within forest it finds ample cover for its secretive methods of hunting and its seclusive habit of life. Tigers live in a great range of habitats, essentially requiring sufficient prey populations, adequate cover to stalk or ambush, and access to water. Tigers may live in northern latitudes in snowy mountain hardwood forests, monsoon or seasonally deciduous forests, or in tropical rainforests.

top