Panthera tigris

Tiger
Panthera tigris

Description and Behavior

By Dr. Fourkan Ali

Largest of the big cats (Amur tigers can weigh up to 700 lbs; lions typically only weigh up to 500 lbs.), the tiger is also one of the best-known large mammals. Reddish-orange to yellow-ochre coat with black stripes and white belly. Males have a ruff - especially in the Sumatran sub-species.

Tigers love the water, and will spend much of a hot day soaking. They will also readily enter the water to kill prey. Tigers are by nature solitary animals (as are all cats except lions, which are the only true social cat), but at CPT they have adjusted to life with a mate. This is possible due to having enough food (the primary reason to be solitary).

Subspecies:

• Bengal tiger (P.t. tigris) - Indian subcontinent
• Amur (Siberian) tiger (P.t. altaica) - Amur river region of Russia and China, and North Korea
• South China tiger (P.t. amoyensis) - South-central China
• Sumatran tiger (P.t. sumatrae) - Sumatra, Indonesia
• Indo-Chinese tiger (P.t. corbeti) - Continental South-East Asia

Extinct Subspecies:

• Javan tiger (P.t. sondaica) - Java, Indonesia
• Caspian tiger (P.t. virgata) - Turkey through Central and West Asia
• Bali tiger (P.t. balica) - Bali, Indonesia

Stripe Patterns: The stripe pattern (the stripes are actually elongated spots or rosettes) will differ among individuals; in number, width, splitting, and spotting. Unlike the cheek strips, the dark lines around the eyes tend to be symmetrical, and are often used in the field to identify individuals. Tigers have the mark of "wang" (Chinese for "king"), on their foreheads.

White Tigers: White tigers have existed in the wild in India, only found in Bengal tigers - it's a recessive genetic trait, not a sub-species. A white male cub taken in 1951 was the last recorded wild white tiger. Named Mohan, bred with a daughter to produce the first line of white tigers. Unfortunately this has led to the white tigers being very inbred. White tigers have brown stripes on an off-white background and ice-blue eyes. Most held in captivity today have some type of health problem related to inbreeding - such as crossed eyes, heart problems, epilepsy, deafness, etc. White tigers are bred almost exclusively for entertainment purposes.

Black Tigers: Black tigers have been reported occasionally, but the only physical evidence is a skin recovered from illegal traders in Delhi in October 1992, which has deep black on the top of the head and back extending down the flanks to end in stripes.

Prey

Tigers hunt mainly between dusk and dawn, but have been observed hunting during the day in Indian National Parks. The principal prey across their range consists of various species of deer and wild pigs (including guar - bulls weigh up to 2,200 lbs); they will also kill the young of elephants and rhinos, and take smaller species, including monkeys, birds, reptiles, and fish. Tigers sometimes kill and eat leopards and their own kind (especially cubs they come across), as well as other carnivores, including bears, weighing up to 380 lbs, which they have attacked in their winter dens. They readily eat carrion.

Tigers usually attack large prey by stalking from the rear and then rushing their prey. When seizing and killing prey, the tiger's main target is the neck, either the back or the front - depending on several factors, such as the size of the prey; the size of the tiger; whether the attack is from front, rear or side; and the reactive movements of the prey. Generally use weight of legs/paws to break neck - or at least stun prey. After the initial attack on large prey, the tiger will grasp the throat and hold a prey item until it dies from suffocation. This hold keeps the tiger safe from horns and hooves, and does not allow prey to regain their feet. Small prey are killed with a neck-bite. There have been relatively few observations of attacks on free-ranging wild animals. Adult tigers are cautious, and attack only when the danger of injury to themselves is minimal which is why they will only rarely attack when an animal is facing them (tigers like to attack from behind). Cooperative hunting has been observed. Family groups and mated pairs will often hunt together (while female is in estrus and they are mating). In this way, they are able to take larger prey, up to the size of an elephant.

Prey is usually dragged into cover and fed on over several days (3-6) until little remains. Tigers have tremendous strength, which is exhibited when moving heavy prey; Pocock (1939a) cites an instance in Burma of a tiger dragging the carcass of a gaur that 13 men could not move. A tiger eats 40-85 lbs of meat at a time, starting from the rump. Large prey is taken about once a week, although even highly skilled hunters, tigers are often unsuccessful. Probably only one in about 15-20 attacks are successful. On average their hunt-to-kill ratio is 5-30%, depending on prey density (higher the density, higher the ratio).

Tigers have the greatest reputation as man-eaters, especially in India. Currently, with greatly reduced numbers of tigers, attacks on people have been relatively rare, except in the Sundarbans mangrove forest fringing the Bay of Bengal in India and Bangladesh. The recent annual toll of people in the Indian Sundar bans tiger reserve has fluctuated between 66 in 1975-76; 15 in 1989 and 42 in 1992. Most deaths have been of fisherfolk, wood-cutters and honey-collectors illegally entering the reserve. The high 1992 figure is attributed to illegal entry by people, including young children, seeking to benefit from lucrative prawn harvesting. Earlier, management measures including the use of human face masks on the back of the head to deter tigers (which usually attack from the rear), appeared to be reducing the toll. New data suggests that tigers are beginning to realize the difference between a mask and the real face of a person - so predation may go up again. Many deaths arise from accidental confrontations in which the tiger makes a defensive attack. A chance encounter in which such a tiger kills someone in a defensive reaction and feeds on the body may lead it to target people as easy prey. A man-eating tigress may introduce her cubs to human prey. But deaths and injuries caused by surprised tigers or a tigress defending her cubs from intrusion do not usually lead to man-eating.

Habitat

The tiger is found in a variety of habitats: from the tropical evergreen and deciduous forests of southern Asia to the coniferous, scrub oak, and birch woodlands of Siberia. It also thrives in the mangrove swamps of the Sunder bans, the dry thorn forests of north-western India, and the tall grass jungles at the foot of the Himalayas. Tigers are found in the Himalayan valleys, and tracks have been recorded in winter snow at 9800 feet. The tiger's habitat requirements can be summarized as having some form of dense vegetative cover, sufficient large ungulate prey, and access to water.

Range

The geographic distribution of the tiger once extended across Asia from eastern Turkey to the Sea of Okhotsk. However, its range has been greatly reduced in recent times. Currently, tigers survive only in scattered populations from India to Vietnam, and in Sumatra, China, and the Russian Far East. Tigers require adequate prey, cover and water. Their ranges vary in accordance with prey densities, from 4-150 square miles for females; 11-380 square miles for males. While females need ranges suitable for raising cubs, males seek access to females and have larger ranges.