Mighty and graceful. Artful and fearless predator. The largest and most powerful cat on the planet - without a doubt, this place belongs to the tiger. An avid lone hunter can rightfully wear the crown of the king of animals. His bright royal "mantle" is an excellent outfit, work suit and good protection from heat and cold. But do we all know about the hard life of this magnificent and brave animal?
TIGER TYPES, TIGER SIZES
1.Amur tiger. The largest cat on the planet is the Amur tiger. Its length without tail is more than 280 cm, weight can reach 320 kg. To argue with such muscle mass, perhaps, perhaps, only a bear. In modern wildlife, they number about 400 individuals. The habitats of this representative of the world fauna are recorded in the south of the Russian Far East.
2. Bengal tiger. It differs from other subspecies in a brighter color and more pronounced black stripes. The weight of such a tiger is 180 - 262 kg, but the length can reach 3 meters without a tail. In the wild, the population of the Bengal tiger is more extensive - about 1200 individuals. It is among this subspecies that white tigers are found. This type of color appeared due to the recessive whiteness gene.
3.Sumatran tiger. This subspecies lives on the island of Sumatra (region of Indonesia) and has more than 600 individuals, among which 235 live in zoos. The Sumatran tiger is smaller than its relatives, its weight is 100-140 kg, and its length varies from 2.2 m to 2.5 m.
4. Indo-Chinese and Malay tiger. The habitat of these subspecies extends in the areas of Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The weight of the Indochinese tiger is 150-195 kg, the Malay - 120 kg. The body length of the Malay tiger is 2 m, Indochinese - from 2.5 m to 2.8 m.
5. South China tiger. This is the rarest subspecies currently existing. The South Chinese tiger lives in areas of southeast and central China. Today, about 20 individuals of this species remain.
TIGER DIET
Modern civilization is increasingly absorbing the legitimate habitats of tigers, provoking them to attack herds of domestic animals, and sometimes people. It was the man who pushed the striped predator to extreme actions. After all, one tiger needs 350 square meters for full dominion. km of territory and a wide variety of prey.
The tiger is an excellent hunter, he relies on keen eyesight and hearing, but not on his sense of smell. He cannot move at high speeds for a long time during an attack but tries to overtake the victim in a few jumps. Despite the fact that of the twenty attacks, only one is successful, the tigers are quite enough. Occasionally, a striped predator can follow prey for several kilometers or even several days.
The best time to attack is dawn, however, the tiger loves to feast on prey even at night. Failing large prey, this feline representative can live near it for several days. Of all the cats, tigers like to bask in cool ponds, swim well and attack their prey from the water.
The diet of the tiger is very diverse: hares, birds, wild boars, monkeys, porcupines, roe deer, musk deer, moose, lynx, wolves, and even bears. They fish very well, love to enjoy pine nuts, fruits, and wild berries. To fully satisfy one adult, 10 to 60 kg of meat is needed. One adult tiger eats up to 3.5 tons of meat per year.
TIGER REPRODUCTION
Females become mature only three years after birth, and males after four. When searching for females, the males stun the forest wilds with a long roar and finding their soul mate spend a honeymoon for several days. The tigress of the cubs is born 3.5 months, once every three years. Usually 2-4 babies are born, but, unfortunately, most often half of the offspring do not survive. When mom is hunting, cubs can become easy prey for other predators, especially leopards. Therefore, the tigress never leaves cubs alone for long.
Only the mother takes part in upbringing and training, dad can only occasionally visit a family. He is very courteous and kind to kids.
By eleven months, the cubs can already independently attack the prey. Despite this, they are near their mother until two years old. Tigers do not live very long. In taiga, in harsh conditions, their length of life is about 10 years. In warm places, with good prey, up to 20 years.
TIGER THREATENS DISAPPEARANCE
Currently, tigers are threatened with extinction, they have become a real rarity in the natural world and are listed in the Red Book. Once, over 100,000 tigers lived in Asia, today they number about 5 thousand. In total, about 6500 of these magnificent cats remain in the world.
People still continue to train these proud and stubborn animals, trying to conquer their circus arenas and iron cages. But hurt the pride of tigers leads to frequent deaths of trainers, and later the tigers themselves.