Tigers pride : facts about tigers

This beautiful beast with a red-orange golden skin is the biggest cat of the genus Panthera. The camouflage with black stripes on it, not only adds to its beauty but also protects it in the wild. The tigers range extends over Asia from Turkey in the west to Russia in the east. The body that weighs around 175 kilos (about 390 lbs) can jump upon and throw the biggest of the preys on the ground. The longest of all cats, 3.5″ canines, strangles the neck down, while it wrestles down the prey. A tiger’s body is 11 ft (3.4 m) and the balancing tail is 1.1 m. Things have not been exactly smooth between tigers and our race. Humans killing for decoratives and medicines have been killed by tigers for food. They are getting extinct anyway, so may be we won’t have to worry about it for too long!

. Apex predator

The tigers are at the top of the predators chain. No animal has tigers as their staple food at least. The tigers are not hunt by other animals, they can only be fought by the big cats probably to snatch food. The tigers normally feed on ungulates like deer but unlike other cats, tigers can kill the big animals on their own.

. Conflicts with humans

Tiger-Hunt

When it happens to be that the tigers and the humans are living ingeniously with one another, there can be an overlap with one another’s territory and the tiger certainly doesn’t like that. Neither do humans; but tigers have not been taking our lands. Too many of us on this planet may be!

The tigers have killed maximum number of animals in a direct attack. The tigers normally would attack a human in case they are startled; like a tiger was startled seeing the postman on a bicycle, who usually would be walking. They would naturally hunt humans if they are not strong enough to get their preferred prey. Like a tigress “Champawat Tiger” killed 430 humans because she was missing two canines.

. Homeless Tigers!

The tigers have lost 93% of their original range and are now found only in sub-Saharan African region and in Gir National park in India mainly.

. Fallen population

The estimated present population of tigers is 3062 to 3948, which used to be 100,000 in the beginning of the 20th century. The remaining tigers exist in small isolated groups and 2000 tigers out of that are in India. In 2016, WWF declared that the population has been recorded to increase for the first time! This is new!

. The Charismatic Cat

Everyone recognizes tigers and even love the way this yellow eyed creature looks. It is the symbol of strength, aggression and power. In addition to that, muscular built and the fearlessness adds to its personality and that is why it is the mascot of a lot of teams and sometimes, the logo too.

. Ancestors

The tiger is related to lion, panther and jaguar, but it has been found that the tiger and snow leopard might have their roots going back to 2.88 million years old species Panthera.

. Different Species

Tiger has 10 different types of species knwon as Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, Siberian, South China, Sumatran, Bali, Caspian and Javan tiger.

. Hybrids

liger-hercules

The tiger has two hybrids mainly.

The Hybrid “Liger” is the mix of a male lion and and a female tiger. They are bigger than what the pure forms of both the species are. The liger weighs around 800 to 1000 pounds. They have the behavior and body of both the lion and the tiger. The male offspring is sterile and the female is fertile.

The “Tigon ” hybrid is a mix of a Lioness and the male tiger. This is smaller than the liger and in fact, is 10-20% smaller than the lion in its pure breed. They have the traits of both the parents and the males happen to be sterile whereas the female is fertile just like the liger.
...... TOO BE CONTINUED @zagadat