Bengal Tiger

From Free net encyclopedia

{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Bengal Tiger | status = Conservation status: Endangered | image = Panthera tigris.jpg | image_width = 250px | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Mammalia | ordo = Carnivora | familia = Felidae | genus = Panthera | species = P. tigris | subspecies = P. t. tigris | trinomial = Panthera tigris tigris | trinomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) }}

The Bengal tiger or Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) is a subspecies of tiger found primarily in India. It is also found in the rainforests and grasslands of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China and Nepal. Its fur is orange-brown with black stripes.

1 Physical characteristics
2 Distribution
3 Diet
4 Threats
5 Habitat
6 Notes
7 External links

[edit]

Physical characteristics

Male Bengal tigers measure 2.7 to 3.1 m (8.86 to 10.17 ft) in length, weigh 180 to 258 kg (418 to 569 lb), and have a maximum skull length of 329 to 378 mm (13 to 15 in.). The average male Bengal tiger is approximately 2.9 m (9 1/2 ft) in length and weighs about 220 kg (490 lb).

Female Bengal tigers measure 2.4 to 2.65 m (7.87 to 8.69 ft) in length, weigh 100 to 160 kg (221 to 353 lb), and have a maximum skull length of 275 to 311 mm (11 to 12 in). The average female Bengal tiger is approximately 2.5 m (8 ft) in length and weighs about 140 kg (300 lb).<ref>Size Variation in Tiger Subspecies. Savethetigerfund.org. Cites Mazák, V. "Panthera tigris". Mammalian Species. The American Society of Mammalogists. No. 152, pp. 1-8. (8 May 1981)</ref>

Tigers have the longest canine teeth of any living felid, approximately 10.16 cm (4 in) in large individuals. Tigers are, like most big cats, solitary animals.

[edit]

Distribution

India: 3,500<ref>BBC</ref> to 3,750 + 332 pure-bred Bengal tigers in captive zoos across India <ref>Indiantiger.org</ref>
Bangladesh: 300 to 440
Nepal: 150 to 220
Bhutan: 50 to 140
China: 30 to 35

[edit]

Diet

Over much of the tiger's vast geographic range, wild pig, wild cattle (including gaur) and several species of deer are its primary prey. Grassland ungulate prey of the Bengal tiger range in size from 30 to 900 kg (65 to 2,000 lb). Tigers have also been know to prey on young elephants. Bengal tigers prefer to hunt mostly by night. During the day, the cover of the tall "elephant grass" gives the feline excellent camouflage. In India, there have been several cases of a pair of tigers bringing down a bull tusker ( a large male elephant with big tusks.)

They are also known to prey on peacocks and can climb trees in order to hunt primates. Despite their size, Bengal tigers can still climb trees effectively, but they are not quite as adept as the smaller leopard which hides its kills from other predators in the trees.

Tigers kill prey by overpowering their victim and severing the spinal cord (preferred method for smaller prey), or applying a suffocation bite for large prey like gaur.

[edit]

Threats

Habitat loss and poaching are important threats to species survival. Poachers kill tigers not only for their pelts, but also for components to make various traditional East Asian medicines. Other factors contributing to their loss are urbanization and revenge killing. Revenge killing is when locals such as farmers who own livestock hunt down to tigers to prevent them from preying on their cattle.

[edit]

Habitat

The Bengal tiger is now strictly protected, and is the national animal of both Bangladesh and India. After the resounding success of a tiger conservation program in India, known as Project Tiger, the population of wild tigers has increased dramatically. The tiger population of India now numbers at about 3,500, up from 1,200 in the 1970s. In The Sundarbans, a 2004 census found the presence of about 280 tigers in the Bangladesh side. <ref>BSS news article</ref>

[edit]