Bengal Tiger

Common Name: Tiger

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Genus species: Panthera (panther, leopard) Tigris (tiger)

Size: male to 3 m (10 ft.), female to 2.7 m (9 ft.)

Weight: male to 225 kg (500 lb.), female to 135 kg (300 lb.); largest existing member of the cat family

Status: listed by USFWS as endangered and protected by CITES

   Fun Facts:

1. Since tigers hunt mostly at dusk and dawn their stripes help them hide in the shadows of tall grasses. They stalk and pounce because they are not able to chase prey a long distance.

2. The territorial male tiger usually travels alone, marking his boundaries with urine, droppings, and scratch marks to warn off trespassers.

3. A tiger can consume as much as 40 kg (88 lb.) of meat in one feeding.

4. Tigers may drag their prey to water to eat. They are commonly seen in the shade or wading in pools to cool off.

5. Since white tigers have pigmented stripes and blue eyes, they are not albinos.

6. It is estimated that there are less than 3,000 Bengal tigers left in the wild.

Habitat: tropical jungle, brush, marsh lands, and tall grasslands in fragmented areas of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Tibet and Myanmar.   

Description: reddish orange with narrow black, gray or brown stripes, generally in a vertical direction. The underside is creamy or white; a rare variant has a chalky white coat with darker stripes and icy blue eyes. A male Bengal is about three metres long and weighs about 220 kilograms. A female Bengal is smaller and weighs about 135 kilograms.

Diet: The tiger attacks a variety of prey, mainly deer, antelopes, pigs and American Bison (Buffalo). Once in awhile, it will attack cattle and even humans. There are many stories about the evils done by "man-eating" tigers. They are usually old tigers that are sick or wounded, and cannot hunt normally. The destruction of their usual prey may also cause them to attack humans. As soon as the tiger spots prey, it begins a slow and silent approach. When it is near its prey, it charges. It may jump onto the prey's back or pin it down with its powerful claws. It usually kills the prey by biting its throat or neck. Its strength is amazing: it can drag a prey weighing several hundred pounds as much as 1,500 feet to hide the dead animal in bushes or tall grass.

Character: they are not herd or pride animals and like to live alone, marking out large territories with droppings, urine and claw marks.  They only come together as a group at mating time. They can feed themselves when they are 16 months old.

Live: Bengals live up to about 15 years in the wild, and about 18 years in captivity

Why they are endangered:

  Bengal tigers have become endangered because of the loss of their habitat, as men started cutting down forests for different purposes. 

  Another reason for endangering Bengal tigers is their widespread poaching. Illegal trade between India, China, and Nepal in body parts of tigers have made them vulnerable. Tigers are killed for their bones, which have a high value in the international market. Tiger bones are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Tigers are also poached for their skins. Skins of tigers are used for making jackets and bags.

Revenge killing by the local villagers is yet another cause for the reducing number of tigers. When a tiger loses its way, and enters the nearby villages causing destruction to the local people, it is attacked by the village mob.

  The Bengal tiger was hunted, captured, and poisoned to such an extent that it practically disappeared, except natural preserves and national parks. It is now strictly protected. 

 What people do to protect these animals: The Government of India started Project Tiger in 1972 to conserve the endangered Bengal tigers. Initially, the project showed success, and reversed the declining trend. But, again, the trend of decreasing number of tigers began. In 1990, the estimated number of tigers was 3,642, which reduced to 1,400 in 2008. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) registered 893 cases of tigers killed in India between 1994 and 2009.

Moreover, the Government of India has established 37 Tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries across seventeen Indian states for the conservation of endangered Bengal tigers.

The Government of Nepal has initiated a community based tourism model to protect the endangered Bengal tigers. It aims at co-existence of the man and the wildlife. The model can benefit the local economy without destroying the natural habitats of the animals.

Therefore, endangered Bengal tigers need to be protected. Once they are lost completely, they cannot be restored.