Fast Facts About the Bengal Tiger

Description: reddish orange with narrow black, gray or brown stripes, generally in a vertical direction. The underside is creamy or white; a rare variant has a chalky white coat with darker stripes and icy blue eyes.

Life span: average probably not more than 15 years in the wild; 16 to 18 years in controlled environments

Common Name: Tiger
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus species: Panthera (panther, leopard) tigris (tiger)
Size: male to 3 m (10 ft.), female to 2.7 m (9 ft.)
Weight: male to 225 kg (500 lb.), female to 135 kg (300 lb.); largest existing member of the cat family

Sexual maturity: females at 3 to 4 years; males at 4 to 5 years

Gestation: 98 to 110 days; 2 to 4 cubs born

Habitat: tropical jungle, brush, marsh lands, and tall grasslands in fragmented areas of Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Bhuton, and Burma

Diet: medium to large prey such as pigs, deer, antelopes, and American Bison (Buffalo)

Status: listed by USFWS as endangered and protected by CITES

Fun Facts
1. Since tigers hunt mostly at dusk and dawn their stripes help them hide in the shadows of tall grasses. They stalk and pounce because they are not able to chase prey a long distance.
2. The territorial male tiger usually travels alone, marking his boundaries with urine, droppings, and scratch marks to warn off trespassers.
3. A tiger can consume as much as 40 kg (88 lb.) of meat in one feeding.
4. Tigers may drag their prey to water to eat. They are commonly seen in the shade or wading in pools to cool off.
5. Since white tigers have pigmented stripes and blue eyes, they are not albinos.
6. It is estimated that there are less than 3,000 Bengal tigers left in the wild.

Ecology and Conservation
Tigers, as with all top-of-the-food-chain predators help balance populations by keeping prey populations in check. When a tiger has eaten its fill, the abandoned prey becomes food for a variety of mammals, birds, and reptiles. Some cultures believe that powdered tiger bones have medicinal values. Unfortunately, tigers are in high demand to supply this market.
Length: up to 10 feet
Weight: 400 to 575 pounds
Number of young:1 to 5
Home: India and Southeast Asia

The Bengal tiger lives in Southern Asia. It was hunted, captured, and poisoned to such an extent that is practically disappeared, except in natural preserves and national parks. It is now strictly protected. Some males occupy a territory of 200 square miles. When there is enough food, the tiger lives in a much smaller territory. It lives in the forest, the grassland, or the swamps.

The tiger attacks a variety of prey, mainly deer, antelopes, pigs and American Bison (Buffalo). Once in awhile, it will attack cattle and even humans. There are many stories about the evils done by "man-eating" tigers. They're usually old tigers that are sick or wounded, and cannot hunt normally. The destruction of their usual prey may also cause them to attack humans. As soon as the tiger spots prey, it begins a slow and silent approach. When it is near it's prey, it charges. It may jump onto the prey's back or pin it down with it's powerful claws. It usually kills the prey by biting it's throat or neck. It's strength is amazing: it can drag a prey weighing several hundred pounds as much as 1,500 feet to hide the dead animal in bushes or tall grass.

The tiger lives in several lairs. In one of them the female brings her cubs into the world. From the time they are 8 weeks old, they join their mother on the hunt. At 6 months, they have learned how to kill. They can feed themselves when they are 16 months old.

For more information on the begal tiger, visit: www.geocities.com/RainForest/3785/bengaltiger.html

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Come back next month to see a brand new endangered animal!