They are the symbols of royalty, strength and beauty and are the national animals of India. We are definitely talking about the tigers. Currently, they fall into the category of endangered animals, as they have been hunted by humans on a large scale for their incredible fur that fetches a larger sum of money and their claws and teeth are decorative elements. The massive slaughter of their beautiful animal has decreased their population to the point that they are on the verge of extinction. There are many wildlife reserves, national parks around the world to save this graceful animal from extinction.
The scientific name of the tiger is tiger panther and belongs to the phylum Chordata and class Mammalia. The order Carnivora and the family Felidae make up the entire direction of the tiger. The tiger is native to South and East Asia and is an apex predator and obligate carnivore. The average body size of an adult tiger is 3.3 m and its body weight can be 300 kg. Tigers can be easily identified by the presence of dark vertical stripes on orange-white fur and lighter underparts. The subspecies that comprises the largest population of the tiger is the Bengal tiger and the largest subspecies of tiger is the Siberian tiger. They are very well adapted to their habitats and can be easily found in the Siberian taiga, open grasslands and mangrove swamps. They create their own territories and love to live alone and hunt a wide variety of animals for food. When their prey is scarce, they do not hesitate to attack humans as well. Of the nine modern tiger subspecies, three are completely extinct and the remaining six share the category of endangered animals. Hunting and fragmentation are the main causes of its population reduction. Tigers form the most popular and charismatic megafauna in the world.
The word tiger has its origin in the Greek word tigers which means arrow and refers to the speed of this animal. Tigers were distributed in Asia from the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea to Siberia and Indonesia in the past. During the 19th century, these animals became extinct from western Asia and were confined to a small portion of the surrounding areas. Currently, the only island that provides refuge to the largest number of tigers is Sumatra. The tiger population is also present in India, China and Southeast Asia. Borneo is famous for harboring only tiger fossils. Tigers prefer to live in those areas where there is sufficient green cover, plenty of prey and water resources available. Bengal tigers have a wide range of habitats. They inhabit moist, evergreen, semi-evergreen forests of Assam, mangrove forests of the Ganges delta, deciduous forests of Nepal, and the spiny forests of the Western Ghats. They are strong swimmers and enjoy playing in cold water and can swim up to 4 miles continuously.
Tigers are believed to have evolved from a cat-like tiger. panthera paleosinensis whose remains have been found in China and Java. These cats are believed to have been present two million years ago in the Pleistocene and were smaller than modern tigers. The earliest true tiger fossils are believed to be between 1.6 and 1.8 million years old. Tigers are the most beautiful among all members of the cat family. They have reddish-rusty to rusty-brown fur coats with a white ventral area and a white tint surrounding the face and black or dark brown stripes on the reddish-rusty fur. The number of stripes differs depending on the subspecies, but each tiger on average has about a hundred stripes. The stripe pattern is characteristic of each tiger subspecies and is used for subspecies identification. The striped body acts as a camouflage weapon and helps the tiger to remain hidden in the vicinity of the prey and helps to get the prey easily with less effort. Tigers have a white spot on the back of their ears called an ocelli that acts as a social symbol and is found on all big cats. The other demarcating characters of tigers include strong lion-like legs and shoulders that help them grab and pull prey heavier and larger than their own bodies. Body size and body weight differ depending on the species. Tigresses are always smaller than males and males are generally 1.7 times larger in size compared to females. This distinction is found in all tiger subspecies. The tiger’s skull closely resembles that of the lion with certain differences including a longer postorbital region.
There are currently nine recognized tiger subspecies, three of which are totally extinct. These include the Royal or Bengal tiger, the Indochinese tiger, the Malayan tiger, the Sumatran tiger, the Siberian tiger, and the South China tiger. These are the tiger species that are present today and are looking for means to increase in numbers equivalent to those that occurred in the past. In 1977, the Chinese government passed a law to ban the mass killing of this royal animal, but it was too late and few subspecies had already faced extinction. Extinct subspecies of tigers include the Bali tiger, the Javan tiger, and the Caspian tiger. Tiger hybridization began in the 19th century when lions and tigers were interbred and the resulting offspring were named ligers and tigons. This practice was first tested in zoos and is under strict control by the Chinese government. Liger is the result of the cross between the male lion and the tigress and the tigón is the result of the cross between the male tiger and the female lioness.
The white tiger is the result of a genetic mutation known as chinchilla albinism. White tigers are really rare in the wild and are bred in zoos due to their popularity. The breeding of white tigers may also be responsible for inbreeding. The white tiger is not actually a subspecies, but rather the result of color variation, particularly in Bengal tigers, with only one white tiger occurring in every 10,000 live births. The gene that carries this type of mutation is a recessive gene and is carried by either parent. Another type of recessive genetic mutation is responsible for the birth of golden tabby tigers that have light golden fur, pale yellow legs, and very faint orange stripes. The population of golden tabby tigers is only 30.
Tigers are actually solitary animals but they have well-marked territories. The range of their territories depends on the availability of prey and the access of females. The territory of the tigress can extend up to 20 square kilometers, but the males have larger territories that can extend up to 60-100 square kilometers. When a young tigress makes her territory, she prefers an area close to her mother’s territory, while young males prefer to make her territories in areas devoid of any other males. Males are very violent and often fight over females. Terrible violent fights occur between the males, especially when the female is in heat and the death of the weaker opponent can also result in such a fight. Tigers mark their territories by spraying urine, anal gland secretion, also feces. They also roar to defend their territories. Tigers generally feed on large and medium-sized animals including chital, gaur, sambar, deer, wild boar, and buffalo. Sometimes they also hunt leopards, pythons to get their food. Old or injured tigers that cannot hunt often feed on humans, like the tigers of the Sunderbans in India, they are man-eaters. Tigers also feed on vegetation for their dietary fiber and fiber from the Slow Match tree is highly preferred. Tigers prefer to hunt at night either alone or in groups and run at a speed of 49 to 65 kilometers per hour. Of twenty hunts, only one resulted in the death of the prey. When hunting larger animals, they tend to grab the throat with the help of the forelimbs and the prey dies by strangulation. While feeding on smaller animals, they bite at the nape of the neck, sever the spinal cord, or often pierce the spinal cord.
Mating in tigers can occur during the tear, but the preferred months are November and April. Females are receptive for only a short period and within this period mating should take place. A mating pair copulates very frequently and noisily like other cats and the gestation period is 16 weeks. The number of pups produced can be 3-4 and each of them weighs 1 kg, blind and defenseless. The tigress participates in the care of the young and the father does not participate in the care of the parents. After five months, the tigress will give birth to another litter if the previous ones are lost. The young after 8 weeks come out of the den and are ready to follow their mother. There is only one dominant pup of either sex in the litter. The cubs remain with their mother for up to two and a half years. Females reach maturity at the age of 3-4 years and males at the age of 4-5 years. Throughout her life, the female gives birth to equal numbers of male and female cubs.
The mass killing of tigers for their fur and the destruction of their natural habitat are responsible for the decline in the tiger population. According to the report, in the early 20th century, the total tiger population of 100,000 was reduced to just 2,000 in the wild. India is believed to be home to the largest population of tigers in the world. According to a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature, of the 3,500 tigers in the world, 1,400 are found in India. A huge project titled Project Tiger was started in 1973 with Indira Gandhi’s efforts to save this royal animal and is running successfully till the present. Many national parks have already been established in India for the conservation of tigers. Not only in India but all over the world steps are being taken to save this beautiful animal from extinction.
Tigers are the symbol of strength and are the source of terror. However, they look dangerous but they make our jungles beautiful. Come, let’s save our tigers from extinction.