The lion, everyone knows, is the king of animals, but it doesn’t take the title of the biggest feline on the planet. That throne belongs to the tiger (Panthera tigris), which can reach 2.2 meters in length – not counting the tail, which is over 1 meter. To compare, the lion (Panthera leo) measures between 1.8 and 2.1 meters. In terms of weight, both are equal: they have an average of 230 kilos, although some tigers can reach close to 300 kilos. The two felines also rival each other in strength and ferocity, which is why they are the most feared predators in the animal kingdom. They, however, live quite far from each other. While lions are spread across Africa, tigers exclusively inhabit the Asian continent. Experts believe that the largest feline on the planet originates from Siberia, an icy region located in northern Asia. Over the centuries, tigers would have moved, and today they can be found from the far east of Russia to the south of the continent, passing through China and India. Biologists usually divide this animal into eight subspecies, thanks to small anatomical and size differences between them. The tigers found further south in Asia are smaller and have brighter fur than those in the north – where, for example, the largest of them, the Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) lives. Despite being a land animal, this feline is known for its ability to swim and climb trees. Although he weighs more than 200 kilos, he is also capable of leaps that reach almost 10 meters in distance. This performance at the time of the «boat» compensates for a deficiency of the big cat as a hunter: its vision is not the best and it needs to be guided mainly by smell and hearing. When it captures prey, however, it comes out from under! A tiger is capable of devouring up to 35 kilos of meat in one go. Fortunately, humans are not part of its menu. The rare attacks that occur in general come from old and sick cats, unable to hunt animals.
dive into it
At the bookshop:
The Tiger, Carl R. Green, Enslow Publishers, 2003
Big Cats, Andrew Cleave, Smithmark, 1996
On the Internet:
https://www.5tigers.org
https://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/panthera/p._tigris$narrative.html
sex machine
The female is only receptive for mating for a few days a year. Therefore, in order not to waste this rare opportunity, the couple can copulate more than 50 times in a single day! In colder regions, mating occurs in winter so that the young are born in spring, when the temperature is milder.
faded version
Tigers are divided into eight subspecies or breeds. Three of them were decimated and the others are threatened with extinction. There are individuals with white coloring that are, in general, a variation of the Bengal tiger subspecies. These beasts are not albinos, as they have blue eyes — not pink, as in cases of albinism.
Fingerprint
The beautiful orange coat with black stripes scattered over the face and body is a trademark of the animal. And, more than that, it is also a kind of fingerprint for the beast. No two tigers in the world have the same spotting pattern.
territorial harem
Tigers are solitary animals. Leaving urine, feces and grooves in the trees, males dominate an area of up to 100 square kilometers. Females have a territory one-fifth that size. Normally, the area of a male advances to that of several females, who start to compose a kind of harem for him.
night attack
The tiger likes to hunt at night and usually alone. Guided by smell, it crawls silently until it is close to its victim and then strikes. Its kick is so strong that it can kill prey. When that doesn’t happen, he sinks his teeth into the animal’s neck. Among its preferred victims are deer and buffalo.
lightning pregnancy
The gestation period of tigers is short, about 100 days. The litters are formed by three or four animals, which are born with only 30 centimeters. In the first two years of life, when they are not ready to hunt alone, the cubs remain with their mother.
beard instead of mane
Males are larger than females, but it is difficult to identify at first glance which is which. The problem is that, unlike the lion, the tiger does not have a mane to stand out from the females of the species. The most that some older individuals have is a kind of goatee in the cheek region.