Tigers (Panthera tigris)

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Subspecies
Geographical Location
Type of Environment
Anatomy
Senses & Attributes
Lifestyle
Population
Natural Threats
Human Threats
Conservation Initiatives
Interesting Facts

Subspecies	Indian (Panthera tigris tigris) Indo-Chinese (Panthera tigris corbetti) South Chinese (Panthera tigris amoyensis) Siberian/Amur (Panthera tigris altaica) Sumatran (Panthera tigris sumatrae) Caspian (Panthera tigris virgata) EXTINCT Javan (Panthera tigris sondaica) EXTINCT Bali (Panthera tigris balica) EXTINCT back to top
Geographical range	ASIA Indian Subcontinent: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Western Nepal Indochina: Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Eastern Thailand , Vietnam Russian Far East: China, Korea, Russia back to top
Anatomy	Size: Body length (including tail) 2.4m - 3.3m Shoulder height - 0.7m - 1.30m Longest recorded tiger was 4.3m Females are usually one third smaller than males. Weight: 100 - 300kg. Heaviest recorded tiger was 465kg. Body shape: Long and muscular body. Belly runs lower than chest. Narrower face than the lion. Rounded head. Pelage: Background colour either reddish orange, pale orange, or white. Stripes can be black, grey or brown. Stripes cover entire body, except for ears, belly and tip of tail. Outside of ear marked with a white dot. All stripe patterns are individual to each animal. back to top
Senses & Attributes	Eyesight: Particularly good at night with highly reflective layers (tapetum lucidem) behind the retinas to throw back as much light as possible through the pupils. Night vision up to 7 times better than ours. Excellent binocular vision for accurately judging distances. Monochromatic (black and white) vision. Hearing: Range from 2kHz to 65kHz (approx. 5 times better than ours). Used as a primary source of detecting prey animals or potential danger. Smell/Taste: Like all cats, sense of smell is much less developed than a dogs. Only a very small part of the brain is dedicated to interpreting scent. Dogs have a greater area devoted to olfactory cells and the density of cells around their nasal passages is 125 per square centimetre rather than only 13.9 per square centimetre for cats. Experiments have shown that even rotten meat can go undetected. Interpretation of scents, especially each others, seems to be quite advanced and is carried out via the 'flehman gesture' which is identified by a facial grimace as the mouth is opened, nose is wrinkled, chin is raised and tongue hangs out. This allows the opening of the vomeronasal, or Jacobson's Organ, which is located in the roof of the mouth. As a result, the full capacity to draw in chemical scents for analysis is obtained. The 'flehman gesture' is vitally important for assessing reproductive and territorial behaviour. Whiskers: Used to locate position of killing bite and to then detect death of prey from twitching of animal's skin nerves. Trap scent particles. Display mood i.e. positioned forward = inquisitive, backward = relaxed, upwards = threatened. Also used for judging distances. Teeth: Generally 32 in all. 4 canines (up to 7cm long) for killing. Carnassials for cutting flesh and crushing bone and incisors to gnaw at soft ends of bones and scrape off fibres and tendons. Paws: Particularly large fore paws for grabbing prey and fighting. Cushioned by soft pads for silent walking and grip/balance. Claws: Sharp and retractable (up to 5cm long) and protected by lobes of skin. Used for fighting, gripping prey animals and scratch-marking trees around territory boundaries. Tail: Used mostly to act like a rudder to maintain balance while running at speed. back to top
Lifestyle	Social structure: Usually solitary for economic, survival reasons but not anti-social. May once have lived in groups. Territory: Territory area covers 6.5sqkm - 650sqkm depending on type of environment and prey density. A female's territory is usually a third smaller than a males. Self-protection: Will avoid face-to-face confrontation by marking out territory boundaries and leaving scratches on trees, scats and urine scents, also by frequently patrolling perimeters and 'calling' (which can be heard 5km away!). If fighting does occur it will normally be between males competing for territory and/or a female mate. Injuries are likely to be caused by claws rather than teeth. Fatalities through infected wounds or inability to hunt after conflict are not uncommon. Hunting: Active during day and night (cathemeral) but hunting mainly at dawn and dusk (crepuscular). Technique involves detection of prey via senses; eyesight, hearing, and smell. Stalking will then give way to a chase and, finally a pounce onto the animal at approx. 3 m. After stabilization, a killing bite will be administered to the nape of the neck or the throat. Feeding habits: Carcass either eaten on spot of kill or dragged to a secluded area. Feeding often begins at abdomen. After eating its fill (up to 30kg), the cat will cover remains with leaf litter to hide it from other predators. Food consumed (includes): Wild boar, cattle, deer, antelope, gaur, monkey, pangolin, porcupine, sloth bear, reptiles, birds, fish, rodents, grubs and some vegetation for nutritional, digestive and medicinal purposes. Reproduction: Breeding will take place all year round but winter to early spring is commonest for tigers in southern latitudes and winter to summer is usual for those in more northern latitudes. Females will come into oestrus approx. every 60 days for 7-10 days. During this time she will attract the resident male by scent and with a series of calls. On his arrival, they will mate up to 300 times throughout her season. Ovulation must be stimulated by the act of copulation. The male often leaves the female after a week or so. The gestation period lasts approx. 90-103 days. Cubs will be born in a den. The average litter size is 2.3 but can be 1-8 cubs. Cub to Adult: At birth cubs will weigh 1.4 - 1.8kg. They are born with their markings and with vaguely protruding teeth. Their eyes remain shut for protection against the sunlight and to prevent them from straying. By day 14 their eyes open. At approximately 6-8 weeks the cubs will be offered regurgitated meat from the mother as the start of the weaning process off milk. By about 5 months they will be weaned although suckling may continue for up to 9 months. By 6 months, cubs will be accompanying their mother on hunting excursions but will not be permitted to take part in killing until 9 months to 1 year of age. During this time play is a fun but crucially important pastime, enabling the youngsters to get to grips with their hunting/killing instinct and attributes. From 18 months onwards males will seek out their own territory. Females leave at 2 years although they will often continue to reside near to their mother's base. Sexual maturity is reached by 4 years old and often much earlier. Lifespan is up to 15 years in the wild (although infant mortality rate is very high) and up to 30 in human care. back to top
Natural threats	Injury sustained through hunting large or dangerous prey animals. Injury or death as a result of conflict with each other or other predators. Infanticide. Disease. Malnutrition and starvation. Natural disasters (e.g. forest fires, flooding and drought). back to top
Human induced threats	Total wild population numbers have declined by at least 95% in the last 100 years, from 100,000 - 150,000 in the year 1900 to approx. 5,000 today. Main reasons for dwindling numbers are: INDIRECT KILLING Causes: Human population explosion in home range countries. Growing global consumer demands for natural resources within tiger home range countries. Prey species killed for human consumption. Problems: Huge areas of forests and grasslands are cleared to make way for intensive farming. Residential facilities, infrastructure and habitat destroyed, disturbed or polluted for industrial use. Prime tiger habitat removed or disturbed through commercial logging, mining and fishing. Prey densities drastically reduced throughout tiger home ranges. Result: Food chain greatly disturbed meaning that tiger's primary prey animals are considerably reduced (this leads to increased competition and fighting and increased instances of attacks on humans and farmers' livestock). Tigers are isolated from one another and forced to live in disparate communities thus restricting gene flow and consequently weakening the species and increasing susceptibility to disease. Flooding becomes a greater risk due to lack of ground vegetation. Tigers and prey poisoned by polluted water sources. DIRECT KILLING Causes: Poaching to supply the international demand for tiger body parts used in the Traditional Chinese Medicine, fur, meat and souvenir trades. Revenge killing of tigers that attack people and livestock. Problems: Tiger's are being shot, poisoned, trapped or electrocuted. Result: Immediate decline in tiger populations. back to top
Conservation Initiatives	IN-SITU Habitat Protection: National Parks and Sanctuaries established in most home range countries in an attempt to protect fragile ecosystems by regulating human usage. Alternative farming methods that are less environmentally damaging e.g. replacing grazing cattle with stall-fed cattle. Community-based sustainable development and conservation programmes to reduce local population dependency on the environment e.g. introducing alternative energy sources. Governments limiting and controlling scale of commercial logging, mining and fishing. Re-planting projects. Scientific studies into tiger's lifestyles and areas of habitation to aid habitat management plans. Educating worldwide consumers about conservation issues abroad. Protection against Poaching: Tigers are listed as an Endangered Species under the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) and are listed under Appendix I of CITES (Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species). All home range countries except Laos and Taiwan have signed up to CITES to protect tigers. Strengthening of legal structures and ability to enforce tiger protection laws. National Parks and Sanctuaries facilitate the use of anti-poaching patrolling units to give grassroots protection against poaching of wildlife. Integrated community development programmes to provide long-term political and economic incentives for local people not to poach tigers. Education programmes targeting potential consumers of tiger parts and potential poachers. EX-SITU The preservation of tigers in wildlife parks, zoo's and sanctuaries acts as a back up for field conservation efforts. Controlled breeding of certain individuals ensures that the species remains genetically as strong as possible. International efforts to prevent illegal trade in tiger parts. back to top
Interesting Facts	Tigers have a white spot on the back of each ear, which, it is thought, are used as warning signs during confrontation with enemies. Tigers evolved into their modern day form approximately 2 million years ago. A tiger's purr is known as the 'prusten'. As members of the 'roaring' (Panthera) cats they have a flexible rather than ossified hyoid, which prevents them from purring like domestic cats and other members of the Felis genera. A tiger's body may fetch up to £100,000 on the Black Market for use in Traditional Chinese Medicines. There are more than three times the number of tigers in human care as there are in the wild. Along with jaguars, tigers are the only big cats that seem to enjoy swimming. As with many cats, tigers may rest up to 20 hours in any 24-hour period. White tigers are not 'snow tigers', just a genetic variation of the orange Indian tiger (they have been extinct in the wild since 1958). The tigers of the Sunderbans ,the wetland region between Bangladesh & India, are renowned for their man-eating habits to such an extent that Indian field workers wear masks on the backs of their heads to help prevent attacks. Tigers are not directly related to the Saber-toothed Tiger. Tiger's footprints are known as 'pugmarks'. The name 'tiger' is derived from the ancient Persian word 'tigris' meaning 'arrow-like'. back to top