Tigers

Tigers

  The tiger is the largest cat in the world. It has unusually strong big teeth. Its canines are the longest of all living cats. Tigers use their large powerful heads and forelimbs to bring down prey. It is the third largest predator in the world on land. Only polar bears and brown bears are bigger. The Siberian tiger the living in the Russian Far East and Manchurian is the largest. It is also one of the biggest cats that has ever lived base on the fossil record. Large males can weigh more than 600 pounds and reach a length of more than 10 feet. The smallest is the Sumatran tiger about half as large. Tigers once lived from the forest of central Asia to the jungles and islands of East Asia in a variety of habitats. in just hundred years tigers have lost almost all of their historic range. Some species of tigers have gone extinct because of man. The number of tigers in the wild could be less the 4,000 individuals. 

  

  Tigers live mostly solitary lives on large territorial home ranges large enough to support the game the tiger preys on. They normally live only in their home range and avoid other nearby tigers. However their home ranges can overlap each other and during mating season or when there is abundant prey tigers are found together mating, hunting, or sharing prey. At the same time young adult tiger in search of territories of their own will challenge and sometimes kill older males.

 

  The Tigers hunt mostly at night for large and medium prey. Their strips are camouflage that breaks up their outline and blends them into the background. Water buffalo, large deer, antelope, moose, tapir, camels, Eurasian bison, yaks, wild horses, wild boar, and sloth bears are all large and dangerous animals hard to take down. Even the young of Indian elephants and rhinoceros are not safe. Tigers will prey on even more dangerous large predators such as leopards, pythons, and crocodiles. The smaller prey includes monkeys, peacocks, rabbits, and even fish. Unlike most cats they are excellent swimmers. 

  Tigers hunt alone stalking their prey. They try approaching close enough undetected to leap at the animal knocking it to the ground. Then over power the prey holding it down forelimbs. The tiger uses it powerful jaws to grab a hold of the throat and neck breaking the spinal cord, crushing the windpipe, severing the necks veins and arteries leading to blood lose or strangulation. Tiger’s ambush their prey, overpowers it, and then kills it with their teeth.