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Photo
courtesy of Howard Parfitt
There are several subspecies of Tigers, three of which are now believed to be extinct and six which still exist.
The Malay Tiger, Panthera Tigris Jacksoni was only classified as a subspecies recently - it was previously thought to be part of the Indochinese subspecies (Panthera Tigris Corbetti). The Malay Tigers scientific name is named after Peter Jackson the respected Tiger expert.
The Caspian Tiger, Bali Tiger and Javan Tiger are all believed to have become extinct in the last 70 years. The Bali tiger is believed to have become extinct in 1937; the Caspian Tiger is believed to have become extinct in the 1950s and the Javan tiger which was native to the Indonesian island of Java was last seen in 1972.
The Tiger is one of the most widely recognisable animals in the world - its distinctive striped coat with black stripes on an orange background is instantly recognised. The underside is mainly white. Male Tigers have a prominent ruff on their heads. Some white tigers exist - particularly in captivity and these are a result of breeding two tigers which both have a particular recessive gene.
Tigers vary in size between the different subspecies, ranging from 1.4 to 2.8 metres long plus another 600 to 1100mm for the tail. They range in height from around 80 centimetres to 110 centimetres. Siberian Tigers are the largest subspecies and the Sumatran is the smallest subspecies.
Photo courtesy of Liz Leyden.
The Tiger is found in a wide variety of habitats around the world, ranging from very cold areas (e.g. Siberia, home to the Siberian Tiger) to hot and humid areas (such as Indonesia and Malaysia). Tigers are found in tropical rainforests, evergreen forests, mangrove swamps, grasslands, savannah and rocky country.
The Bengal Tiger (Panthera Tigris Tigris) is found in parts of Burma, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan.
The Indochinese Tiger (Panthera Tigris Corbetti) is found in parts of Eastern Burma, Vietnam and Thailand.
The Chinese Tiger (Panthera Tigris Amoyenses) is found mainly in the Yangtze valley in China and is believed to be near extinction.
The Siberian Tiger (Panthera Tigris Altaica) is found mainly in the Ussuri region of Siberia and is very rare in Manchuria and Korea.
The Sumatran Tiger (Panthera Tigris Sumatrae) is found in parts of Indonesia.
Tigers mainly prey on large mammals such as pigs, deer, antelope, buffalo and gaur, but they also kill and eat small mammals and birds. Tigers are solitary hunters which stalk and then ambush their prey. They mainly use their sight and hearing when hunting and stalk the prey, approaching from the rear or side and get as close as possible to their prey before making a short final dash and leaping onto the prey. The Tigers weight plus the force of the leap forces the prey to the ground at which point the Tiger will go for the throat to kill the prey by strangulation or a bite to the back of the neck.
The carcass of the prey is usually dragged to a place of cover before being eaten. After eating part of the carcass the Tiger often covers the remains and returns over several days for several more meals. Tigers are capable of eating up to 40Kg of meat in a single sitting.
Photo courtesy of Liz Leyden.
Tiger Home Ranges vary hugely in size - in India they range from 50 to 1000 square kilometres, whereas in Siberia they range from 500 to 4000 square kilometres. At the opposite end of the scale, in Nepal they range from just 10 to 151 square kilometres. Females have smaller home ranges than males.
Except when courting and mating, or raising cubs, Tigers are solitary animals. They scent mark their territories with urine or faeces.
Tigers become sexually mature at around 3 to 5 years old. Females enter oestrus every 3 to 9 weeks and advertise this condition by roaring frequently and increased scent marking. Mating lasts for between 2 and 4 days with the male mounting the female around 30 to 40 times a day, with each mounting lasting around 10 to 15 seconds. This frequency of mating is why the Tiger has been persecuted and slaughtered so its penis can be used in traditional Chinese medicine cures for impotence (despite the lack of any evidence as to its effectiveness, and the availability of modern effective medicines). Gestation (pregnancy) lasts for between 93 and 111 days with 104-106 being the most usual duration.
Between one and six young are born in a litter with 2 to 3 being the most common litter size. The cubs are born blind and helpless and only open their eyes after 1 or 2 weeks. The cubs weigh between 780g and 1600g at birth. The cubs are dependant on their mothers milk for the first few weeks but once they are around 2 months old, when their mother makes a kill she will lead the cubs to it for them to eat some meat. Once they are six months old, the cubs will join their mother on hunts and by 11 to 12 months in age they will be good hunters. Cubs remain with their mother till they are around 2 to 3 years old. Infant mortality is high in Tigers with around 50% of cubs dying before the age of 2 years.
Tigers are listed on CITES Appendix 1.
Overall, Tigers are classed by the IUCN as Endangered, but the Siberian Tiger, the Chinese Tiger and the Sumatran Tiger are all listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered.
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 Photo courtesy of Liz Leyden. |
© Predator Conservation Trust.
