Tigers: description, species with photos, what they eat, reproduction

Tigers: description

Tigers are one of the largest predatory animals in the Felidae family. Moreover, almost all subspecies of this family are large and strong predators, which in terms of weight are second only to bears.

Appearance

Tigers are quite strong, hardy and massive wild cats. Despite this fact, depending on the subspecies, the weight of wild cats can vary, although slightly, as can the color of their coat. It should be noted that wild cats living on the mainland are always larger than their relatives living on the islands. The Amur tiger and the Bengal tiger are considered the largest animals of this family, although recently the Amur tiger has begun to give primacy in size to its Bengal counterpart. Adults, especially males, grow to almost 3 meters in length and can weigh almost 300 kilograms.

The height of the predator at the withers is more than a meter. The body of the predator is distinguished by its elongated shape, while it is flexible and muscular, although the front part of the body is much better developed than the back.

We can say that the tiger's tail is long, covered with hair just like its body. On the tail there are transverse stripes of black color so that they form rings, while the tip of the tail is always black. On each front paw of powerful limbs there are up to 5 fingers, while on the hind paws you can count 4 fingers. All paws are armed with tenacious and sharp retractable claws.

The head is large and has a rounded shape, as well as a protruding facial part and a convex frontal part. The skull is powerful, and the cheekbones are widely spaced, extending onto the maxillary bones of the nasal bones. We can say that this large animal has relatively small ears, with rounded ends. There are distinct sideburns on both sides of the head.

The vibrissae are quite elastic, arranged in 4 or 5 rows and are distinguished by their white color. Their thickness reaches one and a half millimeters, with a length of more than 150 mm. The pupils are round, and the iris of the eyes has a yellow tint. All adult individuals, regardless of species, have up to 3 dozen strong and sharp teeth in their mouths.

Interesting to know! The male leaves behind larger and more elongated tracks compared to females. In this case, the middle fingers protrude noticeably forward compared to the side ones. The mark left by the male is about 160 mm long and about 140 mm wide, and the female leaves a trail about 150 mm long and about 130 mm wide.

Predators living in warmer regions have a thin and very sparse coat of fur, although it is quite dense. Tigers that live in colder regions have long, fluffy fur. The basic color of the coat can vary from rusty-reddish to rusty-brown. As a rule, lighter tones, almost white, are observed in the abdomen, chest, and inner surfaces of the paws.

There is also a light tint on the ears, especially on the back side. On the entire body and on the neck there are stripes located in the transverse plane, and there are significantly more such stripes on the back of the body compared to the front. Below the level of the nostrils, in the vibrissae area, as well as the chin and lower jaw, white color dominates. On the forehead, in the area of the back of the head and the crown of the head, one can see a rather complex and variable pattern, which is formed due to the presence of black stripes.

The shape of the stripes, the width and distance between them depend on the type of animal included in this family. In any case, there are at least hundreds of such stripes on the predator’s body. If all the fur is removed from an animal, the striped pattern also appears on the skin of the predator, so the pattern will repeat itself if all the fur grows back.

Behavior and lifestyle

Regardless of the subspecies, all tigers are pronounced territorial predators that lead an isolated lifestyle, hunting in a certain territory. They can have an individual plot of up to one hundred square kilometers. This territory is always protected by the male from his relatives, and fiercely. Despite this, several females can live in the territory of a male without any problems.

Due to their massiveness, which does not allow them to pursue their prey for a long time, tigers hunt from ambush, making lightning-fast speed dashes. If it was not possible to catch prey at one time at a short distance, the tiger does not pursue it and prepares to catch the next prey.

Tigers hunt in two ways: they can quietly and unnoticed sneak up on their prey or wait in ambush. When the distance between the tiger and the animal is reduced to about 150 meters, then the predator makes its decisive push.

Interesting to know! Tigers are capable of jumping up to 5 meters high and at least 10 meters long.

Attacks on frightened animals are so fast that the victim has no chance of escape. No animal is capable of gaining such speed with lightning speed as to evade an attack, although even a tiger is capable of missing. Males can easily share their prey, but only with females.

How long do tigers live?

The largest Amur tigers can live in the wild for about 15 years, but in captivity - a little more, about 20 years. Bengal tigers live almost the same amount, although in an artificial environment they can live for about half a century. Indochinese, Sumatran and Chinese tigers live in their natural environment for up to 18 years. The Malayan tiger lives the longest in the wild, almost half a century, and in captivity it is 5 years longer. Of course, this is possible provided that proper conditions are created.

TIGER - INTERESTING FACTS

Lifestyle of a Lone Hunter

Depending on its habitat, the color of tiger fur varies from bright orange to straw yellow with the inevitable black stripes. The tiger looks great in its luxurious striped skin! This seemingly flashy outfit perfectly hides the tiger in bamboo thickets and tall grass. Each tiger wears a one-of-a-kind fur coat: the pattern on the tiger skin, like human fingerprints, is never repeated.

Tigers are very strong and powerful animals, capable of killing large prey with one blow. Nature arranges it in such a way that everything about tigers is adapted for hunting:

The tiger finds its prey thanks to its exceptionally fine hearing. When attacking, he straightens his ears and points them forward, and when defending, he pulls them back. Vibrissae help to navigate the terrain;
tiger eyes see well in the dark, their night vision is six times better than that of humans;
powerful jaws and huge fangs, which can grow up to 7 cm in length, help the tiger deal with prey, which is sometimes larger than itself; the large skull increases the bite force of the upper jaw;
the long flexible body and muscular pelvic limbs give the tiger speed, mobility and power, and the long tail helps maintain balance during long jumps;
Like almost all cats, tigers can retract their sickle-shaped claws into their pads. When hunting, claws are formidable weapons.

Tigers live as hermits, occupying a certain area of the forest. The animals mark their hunting grounds, the area of which sometimes exceeds 1 thousand km2, with deep scratches on tree trunks, and leave odorous marks on stones and bushes. Walking around his property, the owner regularly checks his own and others’ marks and mercilessly drives away competitors - other males.

The favorite habitats of tigers are impassable thickets along the banks of reservoirs, because these mighty animals, unlike most representatives of the cat kingdom, are excellent swimmers, and swimming gives them real pleasure. Tigers living in the tropics, in hot weather after swimming, look for a shady place under the trees or hide in a cool cave. Tigers avoid open spaces.

The tiger prefers to hunt alone. Its activity peaks at dawn and dusk. Tireless on long journeys, and in search of prey it can travel up to 20 kilometers in a day. Like all cats, it locates its prey using hearing. Having noticed an animal, he bends down and silently sneaks in the tall grass until he overtakes the victim with one powerful jump, and he can jump forward up to 10 meters and 5 meters up. Sharp claws dig into the victim's back, fangs bite through her throat. It knocks large prey to the ground with a blow of its paw and crushes vertebrae with its fangs. The main objects of tiger hunting are ungulates: buffaloes, deer, wild pigs.

While protecting its territory, the Amur tiger can also attack a bear, although such a fight does not always end in victory for the tiger, and Bengal tigers sometimes attack even adult elephants and rhinoceroses.

The tiger usually drags the prey, no matter how large, to its hiding place, often several hundred meters away, so that it can dine there quietly to its own pleasure. Each tiger consumes about three tons of food per year, but it never kills more than it can eat, unlike, for example, wolves.

Types of tigers with photos and names

Scientists know of only nine subspecies that belong to the “Tiger” species, although humans have currently been able to preserve only six of them. The preserved species of "Tigers" include:

Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)

Which has a lot of names - Ussuri tiger, North Chinese, Manchurian or Siberian. The Amur tiger mainly lives in the Amur region, within the Jewish Autonomous Okrug, in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories. It is considered the largest subspecies, which has a fairly thick and fluffy coat, as well as very long hair. The color is predominantly dull, red, with a minimal number of black stripes.

Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)

Which belongs to the subspecies of tigers found in countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan. Bengal tigers are found almost everywhere in these countries, from jungles or mangroves to dry savannah. Males can gain weight up to 230 kilograms, and females - no more than 150 kilograms. It should be noted that tigers living in the northern regions of India and Nepal are more massive compared to those living in other parts of the Indian subcontinent.

Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti)

Which is found in Cambodia and Myanmar, Southern China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. This subspecies has a darker coat color. Compared to the Bengal tiger, males of this species are slightly short of 200 kilograms, and females - up to 140 kilograms.

Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni)

Which represents the smallest subspecies, since its weight reaches no more than 130 kilograms, and females barely reach 100 kilograms. Their small size allows these predators to thrive in the jungles of Sumatra.

Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae)

The smallest of the existing subspecies. An adult male weighs approximately 100-130 kg, and the weight of females does not exceed 90 kg.

Chinese tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis)

Which is slightly larger in size compared to the Malayan tiger. The weight of adult males reaches almost 180 kilograms, with a body length of 2 and a half meters. This subspecies does not have much genetic diversity.

Subspecies such as the Bali tiger, Transcaucasian tiger and Javan tiger are considered extinct, while fossil subspecies include Panthera tigris acutidens, as well as the Trinil tiger.

Interesting fact! As a result of mating of the Amur and Bengal subspecies, a hybrid was born. It is also known about the “liger”, as a hybrid that appeared after the mating of a lion and a tigress, as well as about the “tiger lion”, when a tiger and a lioness were mated.

The sad story of the destruction of tigers

Of the eight recognized tiger subspecies, the three smallest and most isolated are already extinct. The first to disappear from our planet was the Bali tiger (the last reliable report of the sighting of the Bali tiger dates back to 1939); followed by the Turanian and Javan tigers, which were last seen in 1968 and 1979, respectively. Now the South China tigers are on the verge of extinction. Tigers of other subspecies also face a serious threat of extinction from the face of the Earth.

There are three main threats to living tigers today: direct poaching, habitat destruction, and depletion of the food supply. Enormous damage to predator populations is caused by the growing demand for tiger bones, caused by the needs of the market for traditional oriental medicine, and the hunting of tigers for their skins, which attracts lovers of hunting trophies. Efforts to curb illegal trade have yielded positive results, but the scale remains significant.

Tiger habitats are being degraded by human activity and are being fragmented due to the growth of the human population. When tiger populations are torn into separate fragments within their former range, the ego condemns the animals to isolation and reduction in numbers, which ultimately brings them close to the risk of extinction from the wild.

But even if the tigers’ habitats are reliably protected, the predators need an abundant food supply. The decline in the number of ungulates has already left many areas of Asia without tigers, which in all other respects are quite suitable for these predators. Strengthening control over the shooting of ungulates in such areas, coupled with a ban on all hunting in protected areas, will undoubtedly benefit both people and tigers.

Ultimately, tigers can only survive if local people become interested in their conservation and protection. People living in various parts of the tiger's range perceive it as an inevitable but necessary component of the environment.

Natural habitats

Not so long ago, tigers were widespread throughout the Asian continent.

What is characteristic of our time is that these predators are preserved only in 16 countries of the world:

In Laos.
In Bangladesh.
In the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
In Bhutan.
In Cambodia.
In the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
In Russia.
In the Republic of India.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In the Republic of Indonesia.
In China.
In Malaysia.
In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
In Thailand.
In the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

As a rule, the natural habitats of tigers are the northern regions of the taiga, areas characterized as semi-deserts, as well as forest areas, dry savannas and humid tropics.

Important point! Most wild cats are afraid of water, so they try to avoid various bodies of water, regardless of their depth. Tigers are predators who swim well and enjoy swimming in it. This is how they escape from insects and heat.

In order to hunt effectively and reproduce, tigers prefer steep cliffs with numerous niches and hidden caves. They also feel great in reed and reed thickets located near water bodies.

Lifestyle

The Malayan tiger is a beast of twilight and darkness. His vision at this time is even sharper than during the day. Scientists say that animal eyes see 6 times better than humans. This allows the “big cat” to easily spot prey.

The predator sneaks behind the victim for a long time, pondering further tactics of behavior. The unsuspecting victim is soon ambushed and then attacked from the rear. In most cases, such a hunt is successful.

The tiger purrs contentedly and immediately starts eating. He can consume 18 kg of meat in one sitting. Its food most often comes from wild boars and bulls, bears and livestock.

The Malayan tiger loves to spend a lot of time in the water. This is an excellent swimmer! Reservoirs are a real salvation for animals from the heat and annoying flies.

Among its relatives, the animal tries to convey its mood with body movements. If an animal is angry, its ears become vertical, its tail is tense and straightened, and its fangs are exposed.

Predator diet

Since all subspecies of tigers are carnivorous mammals, their diet consists exclusively of food items of animal origin. The only thing is that the diet of such animals depends on the characteristics of their habitat, as well as the availability of food supply. If we take the Bengal tiger's diet as an example, the main source of food is wild boars, Indian sambars, nilgais and axis. As for Sumatran tigers, their main prey are wild boars, tapirs and sambar deer. The diet of Amur tigers includes: musk deer, sika and red deer, including roe deer and wild boar.

The diet of tigers can include Indian buffaloes, as well as elk, pheasants, hares, monkeys, and in some cases fish. In hungry years, these predators eat frogs, various rodents and other small animals, including berries and the fruits of some wild plants. It is also known that adult individuals, if such an opportunity arises, can easily attack other predators, such as leopards, crocodiles, wolves, boa constrictors, including bears that live within a certain biotope.

Seasoned males, who are distinguished by their incredible size and strength, enter into a duel with bears. Despite this, such fights are always unpredictable, since bears are also quite powerful predators. According to some reports, tigers often attack Indian elephant cubs. Therefore, zoos are very attentive to the process of shaping the diet of tigers. Here it is important to adhere to the recommendations of specialists from the Euro-Asian Regional Association.

In any case, it is necessary to take into account the age of this animal, its weight, gender, as well as the season. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the tiger’s diet is varied, including chicken and beef. In addition, the diet should be diversified by including milk, eggs, fish, and other food items with sufficient protein capacity.

In order for a predator to be satisfied and not feel hungry, it must eat about 10 kg of meat per day. At the same time, the consumption rate may vary depending on age, which is associated with its size. As for other products, they are given to the predator in limited quantities to maintain the balance of useful components. When a tiger is in captivity, the diet should include vitamin supplements and healthy supplements containing useful minerals that can prevent the development of rickets in the animal.

TIGER IN ACTION! Tiger against bear, crocodile, elephant, wild boar...

What does the Malayan tiger eat?

Photo: Malayan tiger

The main diet consists of artiodactyls and herbivores. Malayan tigers feed on deer, wild boars, sambars, gaurs, langurs, and hunt muntjacs, serows, long-tailed macaques, porcupines, wild bulls and red deer. They did not avoid and fell. As you can see, these animals are not picky when it comes to food.

Occasionally they chase hares, pheasants, small birds, and mice and voles. Especially brave ones can attack the Malayan bear. On a particularly hot day, you won’t mind hunting fish and frogs. They often attack small elephant calves and domestic animals. In summer they can eat nuts or tree fruits.

Thanks to their thick layer of fat, tigers can go without food for a long time without causing damage to their health. In one sitting, wild cats can eat up to 30 kg of meat, and very hungry cats can eat up to 40 kg. Predators do not suffer from lack of appetite.

In captivity, the diet of tigers is 5-6 kg of meat 6 days a week. When hunting, they use their sight and hearing more than relying on their sense of smell. A successful hunt can take up to 10 attempts. If none of them succeeds or the victim turns out to be stronger, the tiger no longer pursues it. They eat lying down, holding food with their paws.

Reproduction and offspring

Tigers, regardless of subspecies, are considered polygamous mammals. Their mating season begins in December and can last a month or even more. Males, in order to determine the readiness of females for fertilization, are guided by the special smell of urine, which females use to mark their territory. Each year, the female has only a few days to mate with the male. If for some reason the female fails to become pregnant, then the next female estrus will only appear in a month.

Interesting to know! Despite the fact that the cubs are born quite developed, they are absolutely helpless and are entirely dependent on their mother, who feeds them with her milk.

Representatives of the female population are ready to reproduce at the age of 3 or 4 years, and they have offspring no more often than once every 2 or 3 years of life. The female carries her offspring for 3 months. Males, after they fertilize a female, begin to look for another female, so all concerns about the future offspring fall on the shoulders of the mother. Tiger cubs are born either in March or April. Their number may vary, but generally no more than 4 cubs are born. There are cases when one or 5 cubs are born.

The female protects her offspring as best she can, especially from alien males, since they are capable of destroying them. After 2 months, the juveniles try, albeit not for long, to leave their mother’s den. Only by the 2nd or 3rd year of their life are they capable of independent action: they leave their mother’s den to find and mark their territory.

Interesting facts about the animal

Bengal tigers kill people who travel through mangrove forests. They attack the last person walking. To ensure safety, people use a mask with eyes, which is placed on the back of the head.
The roar of the beast can be heard at a distance of 2 miles.

Individuals breed all year round. The peak occurs between November and April.
Predators love to swim in water. Even here they do not forget to “download” their rights.
The price of Bengali on the black market is high. People are ready to pay any money for a tiger. It is impossible to legally purchase an animal.
The zoo has a separate spacious enclosure with a swimming pool for each animal. Outside the breeding season, a female and a male may behave aggressively in the same cage.
The Amur tiger is larger than the Bengal tiger. They also have other differences. The Siberian species is longer and heavier.
The Malayan tiger, found in the south of the Malay Peninsula, is a new subspecies. Previously, it belonged to the Bengal tiger.
On the Internet you can find and watch the magnificent film “On the Trail of the Bengal Tiger”. It was filmed in Kanha and Bandhwagarh national parks.
In 1968, a male weighing 389 kg and 3.33 m long was identified in India.

Natural enemies of tigers

Naturally, such predators, which are at the very top of the food pyramid, have practically no natural enemies. This is due to the fact that it is a strong and powerful predator, with which no other predator can match its strength. The number of tigers depends on the total number of different ungulates.

It is important to know! Tigers are not just strong, fast and powerful predators, but also smart and cunning, who are able to assess their capabilities. As a rule, this is due to vast experience and highly developed animal intuition.

Only brown bears can resist tigers, but only when the bear is dealing with a young, inexperienced animal, and also when the bear meets small tiger cubs. As a rule, tigers are stronger than bears because they are faster, with the same size and body weight.

Too long absence

The disappearance of the male, who received the nickname “Monster” for his size, was reported by Aleksey Gotvansky, a specialist in monitoring specially protected natural areas of the Khabarovsk Territory of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Zapovednoye Priamurye” .

Alexey recently completed another expedition to the Anyui National Park, during which he took readings from numerous camera traps, with the help of which the life and movements of tigers in the wild are monitored.

Based on the results of the analysis of the materials, the specialist discovered that there was no footage of the Beast. By the winter of 2020-2021, the tiger was spotted at all line traps along its routes, but by the spring of this year, the number of shots with it had halved. To date, the tiger has not been spotted for 9 months.

“I am a biologist. I don’t harbor vain hopes - the tiger, having been gone for so long, will not return. Most likely, he died, or from old age, maybe,” Alexey Gotvansky told Vesti-Primorye.

Under guard. How to protect a tiger Read more

Population and species status

Amur tigers are listed in the Red Book and are considered the smallest subspecies. As for the Bengal tiger, its population is considered the largest in the world. Malaysia is home to one of the largest populations of the Indochinese tiger. This became possible thanks to the application of harsh measures against poachers.

Despite effective measures, the total number of individuals of this subspecies is under threat, which is associated with the concepts of ancient Chinese medicine, which uses all the organs of the tiger to heal humans. The Malaysian tiger ranks third among predators of this type. As for the Chinese tiger, this is a subspecies that is in danger of complete extinction. It can be assumed that under natural conditions this subspecies does not occur at all.

Caspian or Turanian tiger

The Caspian tiger (lat. Panthera tigris virgata) could previously be found in Central Asia and throughout the territory up to the Caucasus. The coat color of this subspecies was bright red, and the stripes were longer with a brownish tint. With the onset of cold weather, the fur became fluffy and thick, and lush sideburns also grew. Exterminated in the 1970s.

Man and tigers

Tigers attack humans much more often than other predatory representatives of the Feline family. Often a person is to blame himself, since he appears where the tiger feels like a master. In addition, this may be due to the lack of food supply where tigers live. This forces the predator to appear on human territory, next to his home.

As a rule, man-eating tigers represent solitary hunters. This is especially true for wounded or weakened animals that are looking for weak prey, which is a person. A young, healthy predator, which is able to obtain food for itself, practically does not attack humans, but in some cases it is capable of causing injury. Currently, given the catastrophic decline in tiger numbers, no one keeps records of tiger attacks on humans. Therefore, such figures can only be approximate.

Many countries practice extermination of tigers by humans. In many cases, this is associated with Chinese, both alternative and traditional medicine, which uses almost all parts of the body, as well as the tail, mustache, penis, to heal people, including from low sexual desire. This is also due to the fact that currently no research is being conducted (and therefore cannot be proven) in the area of doubtfulness of such a purpose for parts of the body of tigers. At the same time, it is prohibited to make any medicines from tigers’ body parts. Unauthorized killings of this animal are punishable by death.