The tiger is a large mammal, a predator of the cat family. Today the tiger is listed in the Red Book, so hunting it is prohibited. This means that there are few tigers left. So where do tigers, the largest and least numerous striped cats, live?
Tiger habitats
Now the tiger can be found in a very specific territory - this is exclusively Asia. Specific areas are the Russian Far East, China, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Southeast Asian countries and the Indonesian islands. The habitat of tigers formed in northern China, and later they spread throughout the Malay Peninsula, India, and the islands of Java, Bali and Sumatra. In Russia, tigers can be found in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, in the Far East. What habitats do tigers choose for themselves? These are mangrove swamps, tropical rainforests, bamboo thickets, semi-deserts, savannas, rocky hills and northern taiga. You can meet tigers in the mountains - they rise up to 3 km above sea level. Where exactly does each species of tiger that exists today live?
- Where do Amur tigers live? The Amur tiger (other names - Siberian, Ussuri, Manchurian, North Chinese) is found in Russia - in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories, in northeastern China.
- The Royal Bengal Tiger lives in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
- The Indochinese tiger can be found in southern China, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
- A Malayan tiger roams the southern part of the Malay Peninsula.
- The Sumatran tiger lives only on the island of Sumatra.
- The South China tiger is severely endangered; the remaining individuals can only be found in China.
Panthera tigris altaica
Order: Carnivora (Carnivora)
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Under guard: In 1947, the tiger was taken under protection - hunting for it was completely prohibited in Russia. This amazing animal is included in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Red Book Russian Federation It is listed as a critically endangered species in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Where he lives: Currently, 95% of the entire Amur tiger population lives in the Russian Far East. 5% – in China.
Size: The body length of an Amur tiger without a tail is 160-200 cm, the tail length is about 100 cm. The weight of an adult animal can reach 300 kg. The largest recorded mass of a tiger is 384 kg.
Appearance: The Amur tiger is larger than its southern relatives, its fur is thicker and lighter. Along the reddish background, forming a complex pattern, there are transverse dark stripes. The pattern on a tiger's skin is unique, like a person's fingerprint: you will not find two tigers with the same pattern. Black stripes, despite their brightness, serve as camouflage for the tiger. But the large white spots on the black back of the ears have a different purpose. When a tigress walks through the forest, she puts her ears so that the black and white field is clearly visible to the cubs following her. In winter, the skin of tigers lightens, becomes thick and fluffy. The tiger is not afraid of large snows - its wide paws help it walk on it.
Behavior and lifestyle:
Tigers are almost constantly on the move. Walking around their territory, they look for prey. Tigers, like other cats, mark the boundaries of their territory with odorous marks. They also scrape the ground or, standing on their hind legs, tear off the bark from trees. Such “bulls” can sometimes be found at a height of 2–2.5 meters above the ground.
Tigers are conservative - they use the same paths for years and, if there is enough food within their territory, they never leave them.
The sizes of tigers' habitats vary. They depend on the sex and age of the animal and on how many ungulates are found in the area. Tigresses with small cubs, for example, use a much smaller territory for living and hunting than solitary animals.
The Amur tiger has enormous strength and well-developed sense organs. At the same time, he has to devote a lot of time to hunting. Tigers hunt mainly large ungulates. To catch prey, a tiger crawls towards its prey, arching its back and resting its hind paws on the ground. Only one out of ten attempts is successful. And if the throw ends in failure, the tiger will prefer not to pursue the victim, but to look for a new one. When there is little game in the forests, Amur tigers sometimes attack large livestock and dogs.
Nutrition:
The tiger's diet mainly consists of wapiti, wild boar and sika deer. Daily norm tiger food - 9-10 kilograms of meat. For the prosperous existence of one individual, about 50-70 ungulates per year are needed.
The Amur tiger can not only hunt, but also fish - during spawning, it catches fish on the rifts of mountain rivers.
Reproduction:
Amur tigers are believed to be polygamous. Their periods of reproduction and the appearance of tiger cubs are not confined to any specific time of year. And yet, tigers most often produce offspring in April-June.
After three to four months of waiting, the female gives birth to two or three blind tiger cubs. The mother tries to make a den for her cubs in the safest hard to reach places: in dense thickets, caves, rock crevices - where they will be invisible to other predators.
Around the ninth day after birth, tiger cubs' eyes open, and at the age of two weeks, sharp teeth begin to grow. The mother feeds her children with milk for six months. Leaving the shelter, two-month-old small predators taste game for the first time - their mother begins to bring them meat.
Tiger cubs play a lot, learning the skills necessary for hunting. From the age of six months, grown-up tiger cubs accompany their mother during the hunt and learn the wisdom of searching and obtaining food. At one year of age, the cubs try for the first time to use all the hunting skills they have acquired. But the first attempts to get food do not always end in success. Teenagers will be able to defeat large prey on their own only by the age of two.
For the first few years of their lives, tiger cubs stay with their mother. The tigress hunts with young tigers until they reach sexual maturity. In the second year of life, young tigers separate from their mother, but continue to live on her territory.
Lifespan:
In the wild it is 16-18 years old, in captivity - up to 25 years.
Interesting Facts:
The Amur tiger is the largest subspecies of tiger, occupying the northernmost part of its range, and is the only one that has mastered life in the snow.
The Amur tiger has the thickest and longest fur, but has fewer stripes than other subspecies. The number of tiger stripes can reach up to 100.
Today, tigers are preserved in 14 countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, China, North Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand.
Over the past 100 years, the number of tigers in the world has decreased by 25 times.
About tigers. All modern views These predators are descended from the South China tiger. From this region they gradually spread to Iran and Turkey.
Life of tigers: what is known about animals
- The name predators comes from ancient times. Presumably, it goes back to the ancient Iranian word “tigra” - “fast”, “sharp”. In the Avesta this word was used to describe arrows. IN Greek the word "tigris" came to mean predatory cats. From there it passed into Latin, and from there into European languages.
- Interesting facts from the life of tigers relate to their daily routine. Most of the time (16 - 20 hours a day) predators rest or sleep. Tigers from tropical regions prefer to rest in bodies of water to avoid insect bites.
- The mating season for predators most often takes place from November to April. The female retains the ability to conceive for several days a year. Pregnancy lasts about 105 days.
- At one time, a tigress gives birth to, on average, two to four cubs, which are born blind and helpless. A case was recorded when a predator gave birth to seven in captivity. The largest number of cubs found from one litter in the wild is five.
- The tigress gives birth to her babies in a hollow log, cave, or rock crevice. The father does not participate in their upbringing. Half of the tigers die in the first two years. They are killed by hunger, accidents, cold and other tigers.
- The newborn baby must find its mother's nipple. He focuses on the warmth of her body. But it is difficult for the cub to find the nipple among the fur. The tigress does not help newborns, and cubs that do not find the nipple may die of starvation. The weakest tiger cub of the litter usually dies at birth or shortly after.
- For the first two months, the tigress's pregnancy is not visible. In the last weeks, the predator is vulnerable to hunger and attacks because she does not have a male to take care of her. This is probably why evolution has shortened the gestation period for tigers to three and a half months.
- Wild tigress give birth once every three to four years. But, if all the cubs from the litter died, she can give birth to a new litter in five months.
- By the eleventh month of life, young tigers learn to hunt independently. They become independent by the age of one and a half years, and at the age
2 - 2.5 years old they leave the mother. - Most predators hunt at night. The Bengal tiger often remains active during the day.
- Weak individuals become cannibals. A wounded predator or an old tiger that has lost its teeth begins to look for easier prey, which turns out to be a human.
- Interesting facts about Amur tigers - they are not the largest representatives of their species, contrary to popular belief. On average, their weight is the same as that of the Bengal.
- The weight of the Amur tiger was larger at the beginning of the 20th century. It declined during the first half but stabilized in the 1970s.
- Tigers feel great in water and can swim across bodies of water several kilometers wide. Cases have been recorded when predators traveled up to 30 kilometers. It is believed that they once swam across the sea straits and settled on the islands of Java and Bali (now tigers are extinct there).
- Interesting facts from the life of tigers relate to their hunting. Felines prefer to stalk game at night. On average, one out of 10 attempts to catch game ends in success.
- IN modern world There are no black tigers, but they were once among the Bengals.
- A confrontation between two predatory cats can pass without a fight when one of the animals leaves without engaging in combat. Fights for a female can last several hours and end in the death of one of the tigers.
- As a result of crossing a male lion and a tigress, a liger is born. It is a huge lion without a mane with blurry stripes on its skin. Ligers are the largest cats on Earth, their size can exceed three and a half meters, and their weight can exceed 400 kilograms.
- Ligers can only be born in captivity because tigers and lions have different distribution ranges in the wild.
- The liger Hercules was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest representative of the cat family on the planet.
- The fruit of the union of a male tiger and a lioness is called a tigrol and can inherit external signs both parents. He will have stripes from his father. Tigers do not grow larger than their parents.
- The constant enemy of the Amur tiger is the brown bear. At any meeting, the tiger will try to drive away or kill its enemy.
- When crossing a river, a Bengal tiger can be attacked by a crocodile. But predatory cats can go around reptiles from behind and bite through their skulls. After this, the tiger lifts the enemy into the air and throws him several meters away.
Hunter Kesri Singh brought together information about tigers inhabiting Hindustan. In particular, he writes that representatives of this species prefer not to meet with groups of people who hunt them.
The tiger (Panthera tigris) is one of the most beautiful animals on Earth, the largest representative of the cat. The royal hunter, the most powerful of all predators, he is a symbol of strength and dignity. The tiger is a solitary predator, adapted to any climatic conditions, and in any weather it will get water and food. But, to our greatest regret, these animals are becoming less and less numerous, and some subspecies of tigers have completely disappeared.
Subspecies of tigers
At the beginning of the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of striped predators lived in forests throughout Asia. The loss of habitat, in particular intensive deforestation, poaching and a reduction in the food supply, has led to the fact that today the tiger population has decreased by 95%, and of the eight subspecies of tigers, only five have survived to this day: Bengal, Malayan, Amur, Indochinese and Sumatran tigers. Three species of tigers were completely exterminated in the 20th century: the last Bali tiger was killed in 1937, the Caspian tiger in 1970, and a little later the Javan tiger shared their fate.
Bengal tiger(Panthera tigris tigris), also sometimes called the Royal Tiger, is the most numerous subspecies in modern times. This is the national animal of India and lives here greatest number Bengal tigers. It is also found in Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, Iran and Pakistan. It lives in all types of forests, including alpine and mangrove forests, and is found in savannas and swamps.
Males weigh from 160 to 250 kg, females - from 100 to 160 kg, body length from 1.4 to 2.8 meters. The color of the sides and back is from red-orange to brown-yellow with dark stripes, the belly is bright white.
Like all tigers, the Bengal is very fond of bodies of water where you can swim in silence.
(Panthera corbetti) found shelter in the forests, savannas and low swamps of Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and the southeastern provinces of China. Its exact number is unknown - according to some sources, the population of Indochinese tigers is less than a thousand, according to others - from 1200-1800 individuals.
The coloring of the Indochinese tiger is more contrasting than that of its Bengal counterpart.
In one sitting, a tiger can eat up to 40 kg of meat. However, this does not mean that he eats an entire herd in a month, because he does not have lunch every day and 30-40 large mammals a year are quite enough for him.
Amur tiger(Panthera tiger altaica) or Ussuri tiger - the beauty and pride of the Far Eastern taiga, symbol Far East, listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
By the end of the 1940s of the last century, Ussuri tigers were practically destroyed - then there were no more than 40 individuals living in conditions wildlife. Fortunately, today, thanks to environmental measures, the situation has improved significantly - as of 2016, more than 500 of these large cats live throughout their habitat.
95% of the entire northern tiger population lives in the southern, most developed part of the Far East, and 5% in China.
The Amur tiger is the largest of all representatives, it weighs from 250 to 320 kg with a body length of 2 to 3.8 meters.
The long, thick fur is yellow-orange in summer and becomes lighter in winter. The Amur tiger is accustomed to cold weather, and thanks to a layer of subcutaneous fat, even in severe frosts it can sleep in the snow.
(Panthera sumatrae) is an inhabitant of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where about 300-400 of these animals live in remote areas. Found in dense tropical forests and mangar thickets.
Compared to other species, this tiger is small: its body length is no more than 2.5 meters, weight is about 140 kg. This tiger is the most brightly colored.
(Panthera tigris jacksoni) found only in the south of the Malay Peninsula ( Southeast Asia). This tiger was identified as a separate subspecies in 2004, before which the population was considered to belong to its Indochinese relative.
This is the smallest of all tiger species, its body length is no more than 2.1 m, and its weight rarely exceeds 120 kg.
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 the vertebrae with its fangs.The main objects of tiger hunting are ungulates: buffalos, 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.
Tiger breeding
Tigers do not have a specific mating season. When the female is ready for fertilization, the male spends several days together. After mating, the male leaves his girlfriend and goes in search of new partners, and the tigress looks for a secluded place for a den. Pregnancy lasts from 93 to 117 days. In a well-protected cave or in dense thickets of bushes, the female usually gives birth to 2-3 cubs, sometimes their number can reach up to 6. Helpless newborns, already dressed in striped coats in the manner of their parents, weigh about 1 kilogram. They open their eyes on the tenth day. The tigress raises her children alone, the male does not bear any paternal responsibilities and lives on his own.
The tigress is a very caring mother, she diligently licks her babies with her rough tongue, like that of all cats, jealously guards them and is ready to kill anyone who dares to be near her lair. Panthers, jackals, bears, pythons - all these animals pose a threat to little tiger cubs. She leaves the den only during the hunt.
For the first eight weeks of their lives, tiger cubs feed only on their mother's milk. Then the tigress begins to bring them small prey, so the babies gradually get used to their future daily food - meat. True, up to six months, and sometimes longer, the mother continues to feed the younger generation with milk. At two months, tiger cubs first emerge from their shelter into the world. They begin to master the wisdom of hunting at the age of 6 months, which takes about a year. Games with brothers and sisters, chasing and catching up prepare the animals for independent life. Young predators switch completely to their own bread only at the age of 1.5 years, but sometimes even up to the age of three they stay with their mother, and only when they have finally matured do they go in search of an individual plot. Puberty in tigers it occurs at 5-6 years.
The tiger is the only four-legged predator that enjoys the grim reputation of a cannibal. Although, as a rule, tigers do not consider people as prey, but if they feel threatened, the tiger will attack. In most cases, attacks by huge cats on people occur due to the lack of food supply in the habitat.
A tiger can knock out its prey or even kill it with one single blow of its front paw. The springy power of the muscular hind legs comes in handy at the moment when the tiger suddenly collapses from cover on its prey with several giant leaps.
Among tigers, albinos are very rarely born, with fur devoid of pigment, which gives the animal a red color. Albinos Blue eyes and white fur with brown stripes. The Maharajah of Rewa, a princely state in India, managed to preserve a rare deviation from the norm. The offspring of this tiger are now able to pass on their unique coloring to generations. White tigers are considered a national treasure of India.
Tigers cannot purr like cats. When experiencing a state of bliss, they squint or close their eyes. And a tiger can afford to cover the evil eye only when it is confident in its absolute safety.
The stripes on a tiger’s skin are its trademark; their number can reach up to a hundred, but what’s interesting is that not only its fur is striped, but also its skin itself.
Tigresses are capable of conceiving only 4–5 days a year.
Tigers have round pupils, not slit-shaped pupils like cats'.
In nature, tigers rarely live longer than 15 years, only in ideal zoo conditions their life spans are longer - 25-year-old individuals are not uncommon.
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The tiger is the largest representative of the cat family. The body length of the animal can reach 2.5 meters, and this does not include the tail, and the weight of some individuals is 390 kilograms. Although the tiger is the largest cat on our planet, its population has decreased significantly. Of the once thriving nine subspecies, only six remain today: Indian, Amur or Ussuri, Bengal, South China, Malayan and Sumatran tigers. All of them are protected and listed in the Red Book.
Tigers live their adult lives alone in an occupied territory. Seeing a stranger in their area, males always start a fight. Unlike males, females can exist peacefully in overlapping areas.
What do tigers eat?
All tigers are predators and the basis of their diet is meat. A tiger's diet can only depend on its habitat. For example, the main production Bengali tigers are wild boar, Indian sambar, nilgai and axis. Sumatran hunts wild boar, tapir and sambar deer. Amursky The tiger eats musk deer, sika and red deer, roe deer, and wild boar. Indian buffaloes, moose, pheasants, hares, monkeys and even fish also become prey for tigers. A hungry animal can eat frogs, rodents and other small animals. In addition to animal food, tigers also consume berries.
There are also facts that tigers also eat predators: leopards, crocodiles, wolves, boa constrictors and even Himalayan and brown bears and cubs. Most often, male Amur tigers engage in fights with bears. Although such a fight may end fatal, both for the tiger and for the bear, they still enter into the fight quite often.