About Tigers
(Physical
Characteristics)
Most
tigers are tawny brown in color with dark stripes and whitish stomachs.
Reports and records tell however, that a few wild tigers have been seen
in unusual colors, including all white and all black .
White
Tigers
A mutation of the Bengal subspecies, white tigers have dark brown or reddish
brown stripes on a white ground-color. A popular attraction in many of
today's zoos, white tigers in the wild were recorded in India during the
Mughal Period from 1556 to 1605 AD (Divyabhanusinh, 1986). At least 17
instances were recorded in India between 1907 and 1933 (Gee, 1954) in Orissa,
Bilaspur, Sohagpur and Rewa (Pocock, 1939).
White
Tigers Without Stripes
White tigers showing no stripes have been recorded. A "wholly white tiger,
with the stripe-pattern visible only under reflected light, like the pattern
of awhite tabby cat, was exhibited in the Execter Change Menagerie in the
early part of the nineteenth century and described by Hamilton Smith" (Pocock,
1939: p 202). Another citing of a "tiger without stripes" was reported
by Sagar and Singh (1989) from Similipal Reserve, Orissa.
Black
Tigers
Melanistic or black tigers have tawny, yellow or white stripes on a black
ground color. In October 1992 the skin of a melanistic tiger was recovered
from smugglers at Tis Hazari. The skin measured eight and a half feet and
was displayed at the National Museum of Natural History, New Delhi in February
of 1993 (Kumar, 1993). The existence of black tigers without stripes
has been reported, but has never been substantiated by specimens or photographs.
Territory:
The size of a tiger's territory depends on the amount of food available,
and usually ranges from about 10 to 30 square miles (26-78 sq. km). Siberian
tigers sometimes have really big territories (as large as 120 square miles).
Although tigers usually live alone, tiger territories can overlap. A male
tiger's territory usually overlaps those of several female tigers.
Marking
territories: Tigers mark their territories by spraying bushes and trees
with a special mixture of urine and scent gland secretions. They also leave
scratchmarks on the trees.
Eating:
Wild tigers can eat as much as 40 pounds of meat at one time. After eating
so much, they often do not eat again for several days. Over much of the
tiger's broad geographic range, wild pig, wild cattle and several species
of deer are its major prey. Unlike wild tigers which kill their prey and
then gorge, tigers that live in zoos eat a prepared diet of horse
meat and vitamins daily. They may eat as much as 10 pounds of meat
per day.
A
Streak: The word STREAK means a group of tigers.
Biology
Age:
The life span of tigers in the wild is thought to be about 10 to 15 years.
Tigers in zoos live to be between 16 and 20 years old.
Vision:
Tigers can see in the dark six times better than humans can. (Just like
domestic cats)
Fur:
Tiger hair length varies geographically. In the southern subspecies the
hairs are short (approximately 7 to 20 mm on the back and 15 to 35 mm on
the stomach). The Siberian tiger has longer hair especially in the winter
(approximately 40 to 60 mm on the back and 70 to 105 mm on the stomach).
The density of fur is dependent on seasonal and geographical factors (cold
or warmth). The Sumatran tiger has approximately 1,700 to 2,000 hairs per
square centimeters while the winter coat of the Siberian tiger has as many
as 3,000 to 3,300 hairs per square centimeter.
Claws:
A tiger's fronfeet have five toes and the hind feet have four toes. All
toes have claws (duh!). The claws are 80 to 100 mm in length.
Teeth:
Adult tigers have 30 large teeth! The length of the canine teeth can be
between 2.5 to 3 inches (74.5 to 90 mm.). (BIG)
Chromosomes:
Chromosomes are arranged in pairs and there are 19 pairs in a tiger, or
38 chromosomes altogether.
Cubs
Birth:
The average litter size of tigers is 2 or 3 cubs (the largest is 5, which
is unusual). One usually dies at birth. Tiger cubs are born blind and weigh
only about 2 to 3 pounds (1 kg), depending on the subspecies. They live
on their mother's milk for 6-8 weeks before the female begins teaching
them to kill so it can fend for itself. They begin making their own kills
at about 18 months of age (1 1/2years.)
Territory:
Young tigers leave their mother's range at anywhere from a year and a half
to three years of age, depending on whether the mother has another litter,
or when they can hunt for themselves. Females tend to stay closer to the
mother's range than males.
Habitat
Description:
All wild tigers live in Asia. Tigers live in thick forests or areas with
tall grasses to hide in and plenty of prey to eat. They don't like opengrasslands,
they cannot hunt in an area where they are visible. Most kinds of tigers
live where it is warm but Siberian tigers live where it gets cold.
Size:
The size of a tiger's territory depends on how much prey there is to eat.
For example, in some parts of India where there is plenty of prey, a male
tiger only needs 8-60 square miles . In Sumatra, where there is less prey,
a male tiger may need as much as 150 square miles. And inSiberia, where
there is little prey to be found, male tiger territories are as large as
400 square miles.
Size
Weight:
Siberian tigers are the heaviest subspecies at 500 or more pounds (225
kg), with males heavier than females. The lightest subspecies is the Sumatran;
males weigh about 250 pounds (110 kg) and females around 200 pounds (90
kg). Chart of tiger weights and measurements.
Measurements:
Depending on the subspecies, the head-body length of a tiger is about 41/2
to 9 feet (1.4-2.8 m). The length of the tail is 3 to 4 feet (90-120 cm).
The foot pads vary in size with age, resulting in inaccurate estimates
when used in censusing wild populations.
Record
Holder: The heaviest tiger recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records
is a 1,025-pound male Siberian tiger.
Did
You Know...
There
are no albino tigers!
White
tigers are not a separate subspecies of tiger, and they are not albinos,
they are just white-colored Bengal tigers.
White
tigers are only born when two tigers that both carry the unusual gene for
white coloring mate - their color is caused by a double recessive allele.
A Bengal tiger with 2 normal alleles or one normal and 1 white allele is
colored orange. Only a double dose of the mutant allele results in white
tigers. White tigers have blue eyes, pink noses, and creamy white fur with
chocolate colored stripes.
White
tigers are not from Siberia!
Although
some people think that white tigers come from Siberia where there white
color helps camouflage them in the snow, this is not true - they come from
India! The only wild white tigers ever reported are white-colored Bengal
tigers found in India. In captivity, however there are some white tigers
that are hybrids - a mix of different subspecies. White Bengal tigers are
sometimes mated with tigers from other subspecies, producing white hybrid
tigers.
Tigers
don't live in Africa!
Tigers
are not found in Africa because they never evolved there. Modern day tigers
are all descended from tigers that originally lived in south central China.
They never moved from China to Africa because Africa was just too far away
and besides, they would have had to cross an ocean!
Tasmanian
tigers aren't really tigers!
(DUH!)
The
animal that is sometimes referred to as the Tasmanian tiger is actually
not a tiger at all - it's a marsupial. Also known as the Tasmanian wolf
or Thylacine, the animal had rounded cat-like ears, brown coloring and
stripes on the back half of its body. The species reportedly went extinct
in the 1930's, however in recent years there have been unconfirmed sightings
of the animal.
Tigers
do like water!
(They
look cute in it too)
Unlike
most cat species, tigers like water and are good swimmers. In tropical
climates, tigers frequently spend time lying in water to cool off.
The
Evolution of Tigers
