The Tiger: Habitat, Food, Reproduction and Threats

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest and most powerful of all cats . They are extremely agile despite their large size. He is also a powerful hunter 🐅 with sharp teeth, strong jaws and an agile body.

Tigers are able to jump 8 to 10 meters in a single bound. They are also among the most easily recognizable cats due to their distinct orange coat, black stripes, and white markings. The tail of this big cat is one meter long.

It is one meter tall, has teeth five centimeters long and has claws as long as the keys to the house.

The tiger's only rival is the lion 🦁 (Panthera leo) in terms of strength and ferocity. Or… he also has another, lesser-known rival, Man. The tiger is threatened throughout its range, which stretches from the Russian Far East to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, including parts of North Korea, China, India and of Southeast Asia.

Due to their size, strength and predatory abilities, tigers are considered one of the "big cats" . Lions, cheetahs, jaguars and cougars are also part of this group. Thus, tigers are among only four species of big cats capable of roaring.

There is currently only one recognized species of tiger , the Panthera tigris. Scientists then classified the tiger into nine subspecies: extinct subspecies from Bali, Caspian, and Javan, and living subspecies 🌏 from Malaysia, Sumatra, South China, Indochina, of Bengal and Amur (or Siberia):

• The Siberian or Amur tiger (P. tigris altaica) is the largest, measuring up to 4 meters in length and weighing up to 300 kg.
• The Indian or Bengal tiger (P. tigris tigris) is the most numerous and accounts for about half of the total tiger population. Males are larger than females and can reach a shoulder height of around 1 meter and a length of around 2.2 meters, excluding a tail of around 1 meter which helps them keep their balance. Southern tigers ⬇ are smaller than northern ones ⬆.

1) The Tiger in 10 seconds TOP Chrono

• COMMON NAME: Tiger
• SCIENTIFIC NAME: Panthera tigris
• BASIC ANIMAL GROUP: Mammals
• DIET: Carnivorous 🥩
• SIZE: 1m shoulder height, 2-4m length (head and body) 0.5-1m tail length
• WEIGHT: 100-300 kg depending on subspecies and sex
• LIFESPAN: 8 to 15 years
• HABITAT: South and Southeast Asia, China and the Russian Far East.
• POPULATION: 3,000–4,500
• CONSERVATION STATE: In danger

2) Evolution of the Tiger

Modern cats first appeared around 10.8 million years ago 🦖 . The ancestors of tigers, along with those of jaguars, leopards, lions, snow leopards, and cloud leopards, split off from other ancestral cat lines early in the evolution of the cat family and today form what the Panther line is called. Tigers shared a common ancestor with snow leopards that lived around 840,000 years ago.

3) 4 Fun Facts about the Tiger:

• Sumatran tigers are the smallest of the tiger subspecies.
• Like a human fingerprint, no two tigers have the same stripe pattern on their coat. Scientists can use these distinctions to identify tigers in the wild.
• Tigers are excellent swimmers 🏊‍♀️ . They often go into the water to escape flies or cool off, and can easily cross rivers and lakes up to 8 km wide.
• A tiger's hind legs are longer than its front legs, allowing it to jump up to 10 meters high .

4) The Description of this Big Cat

Tigers have a reddish-orange coat with conspicuous black stripes , a white belly, and white patches on their ears. No two tigers have exactly the same markings, which is why researchers 👨‍🔬 can use stripe patterns to identify different individuals when studying tigers in the wild. But in general, tigers vary in color, size, and markings depending on their subspecies. Bengal tigers, which live in the forests of India, have the typical tiger appearance, with dark orange coats, black stripes and white bellies. Siberian tigers, the largest of all tiger subspecies, are lighter in color and have thicker coats that allow them to brave the harsh, cold temperatures of the Russian taiga.

Tigers are powerful hunters with sharp teeth, strong jaws and agile bodies. It is the largest land mammal whose diet consists entirely of meat. The tiger's closest relative is the lion. In fact, without fur, it's hard to tell a tiger from a lion.

In the wild, a tiger's stripes are important to its survival, as they serve as camouflage, appearing as moving shadows in long grass and in trees. The white Bengal tigers seen in some zoos 🦥 are the result of a recessive gene, and are not albinos. In fact, true albino tigers (with pink eyes) are unlikely to exist. There are some historical reports of tigers with black fur and tawny stripes, caused by excessive pigmentation, but these accounts are extremely rare.

5) The Tiger's Habitat Has Changed a Lot Over Time

A- The history of the Tiger's habitat

The tiger has adapted to a wide variety of environments , from the Siberian taiga, where nights can be as cold as -40°C, to the Sundarbans mangroves, where temperatures reach over 40°C. Tigers haunt the ruins of buildings such as courts and temples and are at home in habitats ranging from dry grasslands to rainforest.

Grasslands , mixed grassland forests, and deciduous forests rather than dense canopy forests support maximum population densities because these habitats support the greatest number of prey species. Having evolved in the temperate and subtropical forests of East Asia, the tiger is less tolerant of heat than other big cats, which may explain why it is a skilled swimmer who seems to enjoy its swims in the water unlike most. members of his feline family. When stressed, it can climb trees.

Tigers historically occupied a territory that stretched from the eastern part of Turkey to the Tibetan Plateau, Manchuria and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, thus much of East and South Asia, as well than in parts of central and western Asia and the Middle East around the Caspian Sea. The range of tigers has shrunk considerably with the expansion of human populations 🛣.

B- The Living Place of the Tiger Today

Today, tigers occupy only 7% of their former range . More than half of the remaining wild tigers live in the forests 🏞 of India. Currently, the remaining tigers are found in a variety of habitats in South and Southeast Asia, China, and eastern Russia. They thrive in a wide variety of habitats such as lowland evergreen forests, taiga, temperate, tropical, or evergreen forests, mangroves, and grasslands. They generally require habitat with covers such as forests or grasslands, water resources, and sufficient territory to support their prey.

6) The Diet and Feeding Habits of This Solitary Predator

A- The Tiger, a Hunter and a formidable Predator

Tigers are solitary ambush predators that rely on stealth and strength to bring down their prey. They are also excellent swimmers. According to the WWF , the tiger's canines are equipped with pressure-sensitive nerves, which allow it to know exactly where to bite its prey in a deadly way. Although tigers are fierce hunters, they are no strangers to failure, as they only succeed in 10% of their hunts, according to National Geographic.

These mighty cats mainly hunt at night, using sight and sound to identify their prey. Their striped coat helps them blend into their surroundings, where they lie in wait for prey. When the time is right, the tigers pounce on their prey , take it to the ground, and finish killing it by snapping or biting its neck. The claws of the tiger are up to 10 centimeters long which is useful for clinging to its prey. They hunt about once a week and consume up to 34 kg 😋 of food in one night. After killing and consuming what he can, he deliberately attempts to hide the carcass from vultures and other scavengers in order to obtain another meal. Tigers have no objection to commandeering the carcass of other tigers or leopards, and they will sometimes eat carrion.

The skill to kill and obtain prey is only partly instinctive, with maternal training 👩‍🎓 being essential to skill. This is why captive-bred tigers would not do well if released into the wild. As the top predator throughout its range, the tiger plays a major role in controlling not only its prey population, but also that of other predators such as leopard, dhole (Asian wild dog ) and cloud leopard.

B- The Tiger Diet

Tigers are carnivores . These apex predators primarily hunt large ungulates, such as wild boar and deer , but are also known to eat monkeys 🐒 , fish 🐟 , rhinos 🦏 , elephants 🐘 , buffaloes 🐂 , leopards 🐆 and even crocodiles 🐊 . When tigers are in close proximity to humans, they may also feed on domestic animals, such as cattle or goats. Tigers also feed on carrion.

At the zoo, the tigers eat ground beef 🍖 , and their diet is supplemented with weekly enrichment items. They are given shank bones or cow femurs twice a week and rabbits once a week to exercise their jaws and keep their teeth healthy.

7) The Reproduction of the Tiger and the Development of the Tiger Cubs

A- Mating of the Tiger and the Tigress

Female tigers reach sexual maturity between 3 and 4 years old. The males reach their sexual maturity around 4 or 5 years. A tigress' willingness to mate is heralded by vocalization and scent production. Mating can take place at any time of the year, but it most often takes place during the cooler months 🍃, between November and April. Tigers are induced ovulators, meaning females do not release eggs until mating. Gestation lasts about 100 days (about 14 weeks), and females give birth to one to seven cubs in a litter, averaging two to four cubs.

B- The Tigers

Tigers are born blind , and even when their eyes open 👀, the opacity prevents them from seeing clearly for six to eight weeks. There is therefore a long period of weaning, guardianship and training during which the mortality of the young is high, especially if food is scarce. During this period, the offspring must endure long periods of absence from the mother when she has gone hunting. And they quadruple their size in their first month!

They are raised alone by their mother ; the father plays no role in education. Weaker cubs receive less food due to the aggression of their stronger siblings 💪, as food is made available less often. Tiger cubs are usually independent at 18 months. They remain with their mother for more than two years, however, when they are nearly adults and are able to kill prey for themselves. Then the baby tigers disperse to find their own territory. Females often stay close to their mother's territory, while males disperse farther from home.

Males grow faster than females and tend to leave their mothers earlier. After her cubs are gone, females are ready to give birth again 👶, tigresses do not breed until her cubs are independent . However, if a female's offspring do not survive, for reasons such as infanticide or starvation, she is able to conceive another litter immediately.

8) Longevity of Tigers

The lifespan of tigers in the wild is generally between 10 and 15 years . When cared for by humans, or on rare occasions in the wild, a tiger can live up to 20 years 🎅. However, about half of wild tiger cubs do not survive beyond the first two years of life. Only 40% of those who achieve independence actually live to establish territory and produce offspring. Mortality risk remains high for adult tigers due to their territorial nature, which often results in direct competition with conspecifics or members of the same species.

9) The Solitary Behavior of the Tiger

Tigers are solitary and territorial creatures except when mating. They live far from each other and occupy a home range that is usually between 200 and 1000 square kilometers . The size and nature of this territory varies depending on the number and distribution of prey, the presence of other tigers in the area, the nature of the terrain, the availability of water 💧 and individual characteristics. Females occupy a smaller home range than males. Tigers often create several dens in their territory. Since cats are not afraid of water and tigers are skilled swimmers capable of crossing medium-sized rivers, water rarely poses an obstacle for them.

A tiger knows if it is in the territory of another tiger thanks to the trees that surround it. Spacing between individuals and maintenance of territories are achieved by vocalization, ground scraping, tree claw marking, fecal deposits, odor deposited by facial gland rubbing and urine spraying mixed with the odor secreted by the anal glands. The solitary nature of the species also helps to minimize territorial disputes. Nevertheless, confrontations do occur, sometimes resulting in injury and even death.

10) Communication between these Felines

Despite their solitary nature, communication is a very important part of the behavioral ecology of tigers. They communicate through vocalizations, such as roars, growls, and whispers, and through signals, such as scent marks and scratches on trees. Tigers are fiercely territorial animals, so these signals are especially important for communicating where one tiger's home range ends and another's begins.

11) Tiger Subspecies

There are five subspecies of tigers alive today and each of these subspecies is classified as threatened 🚨. The five tiger subspecies include Siberian tigers , Bengal tigers , Indochina tigers , South China tigers, and Sumatran tigers . There are also three other tiger subspecies that have gone extinct over the past sixty years. Extinct subspecies include Caspian tigers, Javan tigers, and Bali tigers.

12) Tigers, Humans and Threats

A- The Tiger, Represented by Man for Millennia

Tigers are the largest felines in the world, and as such, many cultures consider the tiger to be a symbol of strength, courage, and dignity . Next to the elephant and the lion, no wild animal is so often depicted in Asian art and tradition 🥡. Human beings have been fascinated by tigers for millennia. Images of tigers first appeared as a cultural symbol nearly 5,000 years ago in the region now known as Pakistan. Tigers were also part of the Roman Colosseum games.

In Hindu mythology, the tiger is the vahana ("vehicle") of the goddess Durga. Tigers are depicted on seals from the ancient Indus civilization. The greatest of ancient India's Gupta emperors, Samudra, minted special gold coins 💰 depicting him slaying tigers. Sultan Tippu even expressed his frustration at his inability to defeat the British by ordering a special life-size, sound-filled toy depicting a tiger slaughtering a British soldier.

Today, some animist communities continue to worship the tiger. For example, the tiger is one of the twelve animals in the Chinese ♌ zodiac , and those born in the "Year of the Tiger" (every 12th year in the Chinese calendar) are considered brave, competitive, and self-confident.

B- The Tigers are Threatened

However, since hunting them is also a sign of bravery in some cultures, tigers are endangered . Tigers are hunted for their meat, skin and body parts that are used in traditional medicine. To make matters worse, these big cats have lost most of their habitat to logging, road building and development.

While tigers can and will attack a human if threatened or unable to find food elsewhere, tiger attacks are relatively rare . Most man-eating tigers are older or disabled, and therefore unable to pursue or subdue larger prey.

13) The Conservation Status of Tigers

A- The Tiger is in Danger

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species (in French) classifies the Amur/Siberian, Indochina and Bengal tigers as endangered species. endangered 🙊, and the tigers of Sumatra, Malaysia and South China in the category of critically endangered species . Most of the remaining tigers live in sanctuaries to protect them from poachers.

There are more tigers in captivity than in the wild! According to the WWF, there are around 5,000 tigers in captivity in the United States alone, but there are fewer than 3,200 tigers in the wild (including around 200-400 Sumatran tigers and 360 Amur tigers) . More than half of these tigers live in the forests of India. The main threats to tigers are poaching, habitat loss, dwindling prey populations.

Although protected areas have been established for tigers, illegal killings 🏛 still take place, mainly for their skins and their use in traditional Chinese medical practices. Poachers still kill tigers for the illegal demand for tiger bones (used in tonics and medicines), tiger skin (considered a status symbol) and other body parts, is at the origin of killing and trafficking, which had a huge impact on tiger populations and led to localized extinctions. The continued demand for tiger parts is pushing the species ever closer to extinction.

B- The Plan to Save the Tigers

Although most of their historic range has been destroyed (only 7% of the tiger's original range remains due to human agriculture, logging, settlements and roads ), research suggests that tigers living in the Indian subcontinent are still genetically strong 🤠. This indicates that with proper conservation and protection in place, tigers have the ability to bounce back as a species. In India, it is illegal to shoot tigers or trade in their skins or other body parts. Moreover, in the Siberian region of Russia, there is hope that these big cats will also make a comeback.

For example, the Smithsonian National Zoo participates in the Sumatran and Amur Tiger Survival Plan , which aims to responsibly breed and manage tiger populations in institutions accredited by the AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums ) throughout North America. The objective of the SSP ( Species Survival Plan created by the AZA) is to maintain a population of the three managed tiger subspecies - Amur, Sumatra and Malayan - that is genetically healthy enough to maintain high genetic diversity for the next 100 years ⏳.

14) The Life of Tigers

To sum up, tigers are iconic creatures , and the biggest cats in the world. They are solitary creatures; they like to spend most of their time alone, roaming their huge territories in search of food. According to the San Diego Zoo, the Siberian Tiger 🏔 has the largest range; its territory extends over more than 10,000 km2. Tigers mark their territory by spraying a mixture of urine and scent gland secretions on trees and rocks. They also scratch marks in trees with their claws.

Baby tigers are born helpless. At birth, a cub weighs 1 kg and a female can have up to seven cubs at a time. About half of cubs don't live beyond the age of two , according to the WWF. The mother must leave her young while she hunts, leaving them at the mercy of other predators 🐺. Most mother tigers are unable to kill enough prey to feed a large litter, so some cubs may starve.

At only 8 weeks old, the little tigers 🐯 are ready to learn to hunt and go on a hunting expedition with their mother. At 2 years old, the cubs leave alone , and their mother is ready to welcome another series of cubs. In the wild, tigers typically live 10 to 15 years.