Structure.of.Tiger

8/14/2019 Structure.of.Tiger

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Nicole Richardson



Scientific Name : Panthera tigris

Weight:

Males: 180 to 325 kg

Females: 120 to 180 kg

Length:Males: 2.6 to 3.3 meters

Females:

Life Span: 10 to 15 years (wild)

16 to 20 years (captivity)

Gestation: 103 days.Litter size: 3-4 cubs.

Subspecies:

Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)

Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigriscorbetti)

Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae)

Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)

South China tiger (Panthera tigrisamoyensis)



Other than the Siberian tiger, tigersin the wild live in a warm, tropicalarea. This is because they aresensitive to heat and need theshade that plants and trees

provide.In the case of Siberians they havestructural adaptations to cope withthe cold.



Distribution ofTigers in the Wild



Tiger are territorial and solitary by nature and communicate by scent marks, vocalizations and visual signals. They usually interact briefly for matingpurposes and occasionally to share a kill. There have been a few documentedcases of tigers collaborating on a hunt, similar to a pride of lions.

It is considered by researchers that tigers are able to recognize each other.Tigers that are related to each other may be willing to share prey they have

killed together and even those that have been in the area before and theyrecognize the scent of. This is not the norm though.

Also it is known for males to share their meals with females and cubs,allowing them to feed first or at the same time. This is unique for big cats;most species of cats, males will eat first until they get their fill then what is

left will be shared by those remaining as they go down the social hierarchy. Aggression amongst adult male tigers is influenced by the density of tigers inan area and whether or not there is a social interference in which males arecompeting to take control of a territory. The bigger the territory the morefemales and resources, which means better survival changes and more chance

of passing on their genes.



Unlike most other cats tigers love to swim. Tigers are quite happy to getinto the water and cool off. They have even been known to hunt in the

water. This love of water is a great benefit to tigers, they can quickly andeasily cool down and get back to hunting. This behaviour also lets themhunt in another area. All animals need water and will usually drink from a

water source at least once a day and tigers will happily hunt in water.



The size of tiger territories differs based on a couple of variables, theseason, climate, gender and the amount of prey in an area. Theavailability of prey decrees the size of the territory, the more prey thesmaller a tiger’s territory. For males in India, where the prey density ishigh, their territories range in size from 5 to 150 km2 and a male in Siberia

the range is from 800 to 1200 km2. Males will have larger territories thanfemales, which will overlap several females' territories. The bigger a male’sterritory the more females' territories can be accommodated and themore females means more of that male’s cubs because he will the mostlikely to get to the female in heat.

Tigers insure their territories by constantly patrolling them. In captivity atiger can be seen to be constantly pacing around the edges of theirenclosure, this is them checking the borders.



Tigers are essentially nocturnal, they active and moving primarily atnight. They hunt, patrol, mark territories, court mates and tend to youngmainly at night. The same activities may happen in daytime but are notoften. If hunting is unsuccessful during the night a hungry tiger will gohunting in the day. Mother tigers will hunt during the day because

nocturnal hunting will not provide enough food to feed her and her cubs. After sunrise activity gradually decreases until about midday and increaseagain around early evening. Between mid-morning and mid-afternoontigers are least active, this time is the hottest part of the day and tigerskeep cool by resting in dense vegetation, by streams and rivers or going

for a swim.Being good swimmers tigers will often go into rivers and lakes. They caneasily cross rivers 6 to 8 km wide, and have been known to swim distancesof up to 29 km.



As solitary creatures tigers don’t usually feed or hunt together. Mothers will hunt and feed their young and there has been document cases ofcooperation in a hunt but other than this it is usually lone hunting.

Though tigers usually eat medium sized animals, they’re opportunists and will hunt anything.

Tigers will usually hunt at night and have superior vision for this. Theyambush their prey overpowering them from any angle, using their bodysize and strength to knock large prey off balance and then bite theanimals neck to kill it quickly. They preferred method to kill is by bitingthe throat and using their forelimbs to hold onto the prey, bringing it tothe ground, remaining latched onto the throat until the prey dies ofstrangulation. With smaller prey the bite to the neck will often break thespinal cord, pierce the windpipe, or severe the jugular vein or commoncarotid artery.



Tigers are sometimes known as“man eater” and they have killedpeople but the tigers that attack areusually old and are missing teeth.They also attack livestock because

both humans and livestock are easyprey and there are lots of them.Unlike some other man eating bigcats tigers aren’t known to come into human settlements to hunt, most

of tigers happen when a persongoes into the forest alone or in asmall group.



Tigers are the largest of the big catsso they need a lot of food and ascarnivores that food is meat. Anadult tiger will eat large-bodiedprey weighing about 20 kg or larger,

such as moose, deer species, pigs,cows, horses, buffalos and goats.Occasionally they may consumetapirs, elephant and rhinoceroscalves, bear species, leopards and

Asiatic wild dogs. But mainly theyare opportunist hunters, if it runsand they catch it, they will eat it.



Tigers orange with black stripesmight look like it would beaffective camouflage but in thelight speckled floors of a forest it isthe effective kind.

The tigers’ camouflage worksbecause their orange coats imitatelight patterns on the ground andthe black stripes look like grass.

The pattern of the a tiger's stripestotally unique and identifies them

to others, no unlike humanfingerprints. The unique pattern isonly on the coat either, if a tiger

was shaved the same pattern wouldbe preserved on the skin.

When alert to sounds, the tiger’s earsperk up and efficiently funnel soundsto the inner ear. The ears can alsorotate independently of each of, tofigure out the exact location of the

sound. Both of these adaptationsallows tigers to communicate moreeffectively.



Males and females don’t usually interact unless it is mating season.Mating season in tropic areas is around November to April; during the

winter months in temperate regions.

Gestation last for 103 days and 3-4 cubs will be in the litter.

Cubs follow their mother out of the den at around 8 weeks and becomeindependent at around 18 months of age. Mothers guard their young from wandering males that may kill the cubs to make the female receptive tomating.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger

http://www.defenders.org/tiger/basic-facts

http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/tiger/behavtiger.html

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/tiger/diet.htm

http://www.miamisci.org/youth/

unity/Unity1/Jasmine/pages/index.html

http://www.tigers- world.com/tiger-social-structure.html

http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/tigers.htm









http://www.miamisci.org/youth/unity/Unity1/Jasmine/pages/index.html



http://www.tigers-world.com/tiger-social-structure.html
































http://www.cukurcumatimes.com/2010/11/tiger-summit-2010.html

http://www.featurepics.com/online/Tiger-Eating-Raw-Meat-

2072393.aspx

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http://www.featurepics.com/online/Tiger-Eating-Raw-Meat-2072393.aspx



















Structure.of.Tiger

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