Tigers India - Fact File

Common Name: Tiger
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata (Vertebrata)
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Pantherinae Panthera
Species: tigris

Sub-species:
Bengal Tiger - Panthera tigris tigris
Siberian (Amurian) Tiger - Panthera tigris altaica
Sumatran Tiger - Panthera tigris sumatrae
Indo-Chinese Tiger - Panthera tigris corbetti
South China Tiger - Panthera tigris amoyensis
Javan Tiger - Panthera tigris sondaica - extinct since early 1980's
Bali Tiger - Panthera tigris balica - extinct since the 1940's
Caspian Tiger - Panthera tigris virgata - extinct since the early 1970's

Interesting Facts about Tiger
» Siberian Tiger is the biggest cat in the world reaching a size of 650 lbs.
» Can jump 30 feet in a single leap.
» Tigers are the only big cats that enjoy going into water.
» There are only 200 white tigers left in the world. The last spotting of a White Bengal Tiger in the wild was in central    India in 1951. It is from this animal that all White Tigers in captivity today have descended.
» Three of the sub species of tigers are now extinct from human hunting.
» Some analysis predict that Tigers may go extinct after the turn of the century.


Travel Angel Says: This species has been (and is still) widely hunted throughout its range for sport, for the fur trade, and for the traditional Asian medicine market. For the medicine trade – no part of the Tiger’s body goes unused (see diagram below).

The tiger is one of the best known mammals, and has become a symbol everywhere for conservation. Today, sadly, there are more tigers in captivity then exist in the wild. There are only 200-400 Siberian tigers left in the wild.

Size and Appearance:
The largest of all the living cats, the tiger is immediately recognizable by its unique reddish – orange coat with black stripes. Stripe patterns differ among individuals and are as unique to the animal as are fingerprints to humans. The dark lines above the eyes tend to be symmetrical, but the marks on the sides of the face and body can be different. Males have a prominent ruff or collar, which is especially pronounced in the Sumatran tiger.

White tigers have been seen in the wild in India, and 1 single white cub was the progenitor of most white tigers now in captivity. White tigers have brown stripes and crystal blue eyes, and some specimens in captivity have no stripes at all. Black tigers have been reported, but only a single pelt from illegal traders remains the only evidence. The pelt shows that the black only occurs on the top of the head and back, but turns into stripes down the sides, unlike in other cats that are completely and truly black (or melanistic).

Body size of the tiger varies with latitude, the smallest occurring at low latitudes in Indonesia and the largest at high altitudes in Manchuria and Siberia. The largest, the Siberian tiger can reach weights exceeding 700 pounds and reach lengths of 10+ feet, and the smallest, the Indonesian or Bali tiger weighing a mere 200 pounds with a total length of 7 ft.

Habitat:
Tigers occupy a wide variety of habitats including tropical evergreen forests, deciduous forests, coniferous woodlands (Taiga), mangrove swamps, thorn forests and grass jungles.

The common factors of all of the tiger’s habitats, is some form of dense vegetative cover, sufficient large prey, and access to water. Tigers are extremely adept swimmers and readily take to water. They have been recorded easily swimming across rivers achieving distances of just under 20 miles.

The tiger also spends much of its time during the heat of the day during hot seasons half submerged in lakes and ponds to keep cool. Indian tigers generally have a range of 8-60 square miles, based on availability of prey. Sumatran tigers have a range of about 150 square miles. Due to the severity of the climate and lack of prey, the Siberian tiger can require a range of 400 square miles.

Tiger Distribution in Indian Subcontinent:
Indian subcontinent, Amur River region of Russia , China, and North Korea, South central China, Sumatra, Indonesia, and Continental southeast Asia.

Reproduction and Offspring:
Tigers will mate throughout the year, but most frequently between the end of November to early April. After a gestation of 103 days a litter of up to 7 cubs, although averaging 3, is born. Cubs will leave their mothers as young as 18 months old, or as old as 28 months old. During the first year, mortality can be as high as 35%, and of that 73% of the time it is the entire litter that is lost. The main causes of infant mortality are fire, floods, and infanticide, with the latter being the leading cause. Females tend to reproduce around 3 ½ years and males just under 5 years. In captivity, females have produced through age 14.

Social System and Communication:
Tigers, like most cats are solitary, however, they are not anti-social. Males not only come together with females for breeding, but will feed with or rest with females and cubs. There have actually been reports of some tigers socializing and traveling in groups. Females with cubs have also been seen coming together to share meals. Most likely, in all of these cases they are somehow related. Males will kill cubs from other males, so it is likely that the offspring in question is his own. The females most likely are mother and daughter with overlapping home ranges.

Hunting and Diet:
Tigers hunt primarily between dusk and dawn, and they attack using the same method as do the lions. They stalk, chase, and attack, bringing down and killing the prey with usually a bite to the nape of the neck or the throat. The bite to the throat allows the tiger the ability to suffocate the prey bringing death relatively quickly and painlessly. Smaller animals are often killed with the bite to the nape of the neck allowing the tiger to to fracture the vertebrae and compress the spinal chord of its victim. Once killed, the tiger either drags or carries its meal into cover. The tiger’s enormous strength allows it to drag an animal that would require 13 adult men to move. Tigers consume anywhere from 35 – 90 pounds of meat at one sitting, beginning at the rump of the prey. If undisturbed, they will return to the carcass for 3-6 days, feeding until it has completely consumed its kill. Because tigers are not the most successful of hunters, only killing 1 in every 10-20 attempts, it may be several days before it has its next meal. In the wild, cooperative hunting among tigers has also been observed where couples and families hunted like a pride of lions. This, however, is the exception not the rule. Unlike the other felids, man is a regular part of the tiger’s diet and has earned them greatest reputation as man-eaters. The most common prey items are various species of deer and pig, but they will also take crocodiles, young elephants and rhinos, monkeys, birds, fish, leopards, bears, and even their own kind. They have also been reported to eat carrion.

Status: IUCN: Endangered

Felid TAG recommendation: Tiger (Panthera tigris).
The SSP for tigers supports a target population of 150-160 individuals for each of three subspecies. The Amur (formerly called the Siberian) Tiger SSP is nearly 20 years old, has functioned well with this target population, and has periodically obtained new founders from orphan situations or as F1 captive-born individuals from Europe. Its goals are not likely to change in the future. The Sumatran Tiger SSP is well under its target population, and additional spaces are readily available, especially in zoos located in warmer climates. Additional founders are periodically available from Sumatra via captive-bred individuals or wild-born tigers that must be removed from the wild. At this time, the Indochinese or Corbett's tiger also is included in the RCP (albeit present in only four zoos). Given the small founder population presently in the North American population, additional animals from range-country zoos that are unrelated to those in North America are being sought. Although still present in large but declining numbers, no space is allocated for hybrid tigers (including white individuals). No purebred Bengal tiger are known to exist in North America and due to a lack of space, this race will not be targeted by the Felid TAG for inclusion in its RCP. This subspecies currently is being managed in Europe under the umbrella of the EEP.

How rare is this cat ?
The International Species Information Service lists in captivity 1098 worldwide, with 330 being registered with ISIS in the U.S.

Sight and Smell:
Tigers are famed for their glowing amber eyes. Unlike most other cats, they have round pupils. Tigers have acute eyesight and the cells in their eyes are sensitive to color. They can perceive depth because their eyes face forwards, thus allowing direction and distance to be judged with extreme accuracy. Tigers, like all cats, have a special adaptation that gives them excellent night vision: a membrane at the back of the eye reflects light through the light sensitive cells of the retina. This effectively doubles the intensity of dim light. The same principal is used in the "cats' eyes" on our roads.

Scent forms the basis for territorial behavior. Tigers keep track of each other's movements by scent marking, which helps them to avoid conflict. To make the best use of information contained in a scent mark, the tiger has to hang out its tongue and draw back the lips, causing the eyes to close. This is called the flehmen response and it allows the tiger to pass the scent through two small holes in the upper palate behind the incisors in effect the tiger can "test" he scent. To human eyes, the expression looks like a grimace of disgust.

Habitat:
Tigers inhabit many types of forests, from the mangrove swamps of Bangladesh to the coniferous forests of the Russian Far East. Dense vegetation, plenty of pre and minimum human interference are all requirements of good tiger habitat, as are pools for drinking and bathing. Tigers of the warmer climes love water and may even sleep with part of their body submerged. They are adept swimmers. Young tigers are agile enough to climb into trees but adults are generally too heavy. However, an angry tiger in Siberia was reported to have limbed into a tree in an attempt to swat the helicopter that was following it

Predation:
Tigers can kill prey that exceeds their own weight. A tiger can eat over 30 kgs (66lvbs ) of meat in a single night, though a large kill ma be needed only once or twice a week. In the meantime, snacks such a peacocks, crabs turtles, fish, lizards, small birds or even locusts will suffice. Tigers are not exclusively carnivorous and will sometimes eat jungle fruits. Their stomachs often contain earth, and his is probably ingested to aid digestion.

In India, hog deer, chital (spotted deer), barking deer, sambar, nilgai and wild boar are the favorite prey, though tigers will also kill jungle ox and even young elephants and rhino of up to 450 kgs (1000 lbs ) in weight. Tigers will seek to porcupines, even though these prickly creatures have a nasty habit of backing into a pursuer in order to drive in their spines. Injuries form porcupines may fester and can even cause the death of a tiger.

Tigers tend to hunt between dusk and dawn. They are less active during the day and may lie satiated in the shade or in a pool near the remains of a kill. Tigers often cover an unfinished meal with soil and leaves and return to it later. Even so, scavengers are quick to take advantage, though they risk annoying the owner of the kill. A tiger was photographed pouncing on a vulture in sheer exasperation and an irritable tiger will even chase away crows.

Sight and sound, rather than scent, are used to locate prey. Tigers are too large and too heavy to run for long distances and therefore must patiently stalk their prey until they are close enough to make a final lunge for the neck. Effective camouflage is essential and in patches of sunshine and shade a motionless tiger is practically invisible. Despite being one of the most feared of the world's predators, tigers are often unsuccessful in catching their prey. Prey species have acute hearing and many run faster than a tiger. Some have alarm calls that warn all the animals in the vicinity to be wary. If the tiger fails in a hunting attempt it must move to another area or wait until the forest becomes calm again.

It is interesting to compare this technique with those used in more open habitats where there is not enough cover to conceal a stalking predator. In the African Savannahs, for example, cheetahs have developed unsurpassed speed and prides of lions have learnt to hunt cooperatively. The remains of a kill are also more difficult to conceal, and any left uneaten will be quickly finished off by scavengers. Cooperative hunters therefore share the kill amongst themselves, so that nothing is wasted on those animals who are looking for a free lunch. The development of different hunting strategies to suit habitat types is part of a process known as optimization.

Tiger Behaviour :
Tiger behavior is flexible and the choice of prey, as well as the technique for catching in, will be influenced by how plentiful the prey is and how easily it is caught. Tigers in areas where the vegetation is less dense are more likely to hunt large prey cooperatively and to share their kill. This was the case in Ranthambore National Park during the 1980s. Up to nine tigers were seen lying together in a social group, just like a pride of lions. Tiger were observed sharing their prey not only with their young, but also with other adults. Rather than a strict hierarchy, it seems that the titer that makes the kill always gets the first meal, even if the other tigers present are larger.

Tiger Cubs:
Tiger cubs are born blind and helpless, weighing only 1.5 kg (3/3lbs). The cubs' eyes open after one or tow weeks. Initially blue of blue green, the eyes will darken later to glowing amber.

On average, there are three cubs in a litter, though an exceptional seven was once recorded.

Tigresses are devoted mothers and when the cubs are young, she will move them to places of safety, carrying them gently one by one in her huge, powerful jaws. Cubs are very vulnerable to attack by passing predators and many perish before their first year is out. Jackals, hyenas, leopards and pythons, as well as other tigers, are all a potential threat. The tigress must choose a carefully hidden den and leave the cubs alone for as short a time as possible while she hunts. Grass fires, which are often started deliberately to improve grazing, kill many tiger cubs.

The cub remains in the den for four to eight weeks. They then venture into the outside world for the first time and receive their first taste of meat. They keep in single file behind the tigress, and it is thought that her striped tail and the large white spots behind her ears act as beacons for the cubs to follow. The runt of the litter, if it has survived to emerge from the den, is always the last in the line of cubs and is often picked off by predators.

It is extremely rate that more than two cubs in a litter survive to maturity. Having said this, it is possible that the survival rate would be much giver given sufficient pry density. In the mid 1980's prey density in the Ranthambore National Park was so high that four cubs in the little survived to maturity in at least three cases.

The ratio of male to female cubs born is about one to one, but more females survive into adulthood because the male cubs leave the family earlier and are more likely to perish because of their inexperience at hunting. Males can also suffer injuries in territorial disputes and may be more vulnerable to huntress, as they are less wary of baits.

In contrast with the careful nurturing received by wild tigers, cubs born in captivity are usually abandoned or eaten if not immediately removed by zoo keepers . Presumably the unnatural conditions are the root cause of this aberrant behavior.

Growing Up:
Tiger cubs are playful and their games together games together begin to teach them the skills necessary for survival. They stalk and pounce on leaves, insects, or even their mother's tail.

At first, the cubs must hide in the undergrowth while the tigress hunts, but later they are allowed to watch and eventually join in. the young cash help the tigress by driving the chosen victim towards her. Learning to hunt is a difficult and dangerous process and many cubs are gored of trampled to death. Inexperienced cubs tend to grab the legs of the prey, leaving them vulnerable to retaliation. Sometimes the tigress will intervene. She can bring down the prey and then leave it for the cubs to kill. It takes many attempts before he cubs learn to kill efficiently by biting the throat or the nape of the neck.

A mother tiger may allow her cubs to feed first . If she joins her young at a meal, she will withdraw if a cub protests and will go without meat to ensure that they have enough. The cubs have voracious appetites and by the time they are 14 months old , it is a strain for the tigress to capture enough prey. The runt is the last in queue at meals and if food is in scarce supply, it will starve to death.

Their lessons learned , young tigers must venture out in search of a territory. Male tigers leave their mothers at about 18-22 months old. Sub-adult males are often tolerated by other males, but this will change on reaching maturity. Each young male must then look for a vacant territory, or one where there is a chance of ousting an old or sick male. Females remain with their mothers for 24 to 28 months and will help in the capture of prey until they leave. When the tigress is ready to mate again, she might become aggressive towards her daughters. One daughter may be allowed to settle inside the mother's territory, but the rest must find space in the territories of neighboring males. Newly independent tigers lack haunting experience and a second's hesitation may leave them to go hungry.

The young tigers will become sexually mature at three to four years old and by this time are ready to found the next generation of cubs.

Project Tiger

Wildlfe Conservation Activities in National Parks

Tigers India - Fact File

Tiger Distribution in India

Forest Distribution in India