Since the era of Gods and Goddesses, Tiger has been of great importance in India. It has been mentioned in every myth, epic and literature. The only place where Royal Bengal Tiger is found is the land of natural heritage, India. The Bengal Tiger is native to the Indian Peninsular. It also lives in Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Bhutan and in Burma. A powerful hunter with sharp teeth, strong jaws, and an agile body, the Royal Bengal Tiger is the largest member of the cat family. It is also the largest land-living mammal whose diet consists entirely of meat. Its length can measure up to 10 feet and has a weight ranging from 180 to 260 kgs. Following are the details of Royal Bengal Tiger.
The habitat of this exquisite Tiger varies from the largest estuarine delta Sundarban, which is the biggest colony of the `Royal Bengal Tigers' to the desert land of Ranthambore, from the magnificent hills of Himalayas to Bandipur in the peninsular India.
The Royal Bengal Tiger lives in varied habitats open jungles, humid evergreen forests and mango grove swamps. Its diet consists mainly of deer, antelopes, gaursand wild pigs. Sometimes it also captures birds, lizards, turtles, fishes, frogs and crabs. Royal Bengal Tigers hunt on their own and usually lead a solitary existence, each in its own territory.
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Adult Tigers are l.8-2.8 metres long and weigh up to 272kg. Tigers are the largest living cats. The black stripes on the tawny coat provide effective camouflage in the tiger's forest habitat. Background colour ranges from pale in Siberia to deep fawn in Bengal. White Tigers are not a separate species or sub-species, but originated from a wild caught white Indian Tiger. Tigers are the biggest cats in the world. They live in wet, humid and hot jungles as well as icy cold forests. There are five different kinds or subspecies of tiger which are still alive today. These tigers are called Siberian, Indochinese, South China, Bengal, and Sumatran. Their Latin name is Panthera Tigris. Tigers are an endangered species; only about 4,870 to 7,300 tigers are left in the wild. Three tiger subspecies, which are now extinct, are: the Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers. They have become so over the last 70 years. People admire the tiger for its strength and beauty, but they fear it because they are known to kill human beings, yet almost all-wild tigers avoid people. Probably only 3 or 4 out of every 1000 tigers eat people and most of these are sick or wounded animals that can no longer hunt large prey. Wild tigers are found mostly in India. Until the 1800's many lived throughout most of the southern half of the continent.
Tigers still live in some of these areas, but only a few are left. People have greatly reduced their number by hunting them and by clearing the forest in which they lived. Today wild life experts consider the tiger an endangered species. Tigers can live in almost any climate. They need only shade, water and prey. They are found in the hot rain forest of Malaya, the dark thorny woods of India, and the cold, snowy, spruce forest of Manchuria. They also live in oak woods, tall grassland, swamps, and marshes. Tiger prefers to be in shadows and seldom go into open country as Lions do.
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There are five tiger subspecies including,
The Indian or Bengal tiger (Panthera Tigris Tigris) - it is a powerful animal with very distinct markings. They breed at any time of the year.
Siberian or Amur tiger (Panthera Tigris Altaic) - It is the largest type of all tigers, with an average length of 2.8 meters. It is some what pale in colour having fever stripes and a longer and thicker coat in winter. They have their cubs during the spring.
Sumatran tiger(Panthera Tigris Sumatra)
South China tiger (Panthera Tigris Amoyensis)
Indochinese tiger (Panthera Tigris Corbetti)
There are 3 extinct subspecies, the
» Bali tiger (Panthera Tigris Balica)
» Javan tiger (Panthera Tigris Sondaicus)
» Caspian tiger (Panthera Tigris Virgat)
White Tigers. All the white tigers we know of are a color variation of Bengal tigers. White tigers are only born to parents that both carry the recessive gene for white coloring. Wild white tigers are very rare, and today they can only be seen in zoos. The white tigers are neither albinos (in which case they would have pink eyes), nor a separate species; they have chocolate stripes and blue eyes, although several variations in eye and stripe color are seen. The first mutant 'white' cub is believed to be the one trapped by the Maharaja of Rewa, who found it orphaned in the jungle in 1951. Named Mohan, the cub was later mated to a normal-colored captive tigress that produced three litters with normal coloring. A few years later, Mohan mated with one of the offspring, producing the first litter of white cubs-these were to be the ancestors of others now in many zoos the world over
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Tigers used to range over much of Asia. There were eight separate sub-species. At the beginning of the l9th Century there were about 100,000 tigers in the world. Today the outlook for the Tiger is very bleak. Although no thorough census has been conducted, it is estimated the world population of tigers is less than 8,000.
Subspecies |
Distribution |
Number in the Wild(about) |
Number listed in Captivity(about) |
| Caspian Tiger |
Caspain Sea region of the former USSR, Iran and Afganistan |
Extinct, last one shot in 1959 |
0 |
| Indian or Bengal Tiger |
India , Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan. |
2000-2500 |
181 in 31 collections |
| Indo-Chinese or Corbett's Tiger |
Laos , Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanamar, Malaysia |
800 - 1400 |
17 in 4 collections |
| Siberian Tiger |
Siberia in Russia, north east China and maybe North Korea. |
Less than 250 |
652 in 208 collections |
| South Chinese or Amoy Tiger |
China |
Extinct in the wild |
47 in 20 Chinese collections |
| Sumatran Tiger |
Sumatra in Indonesia |
400 - 500 |
195 in 64 collections |
| Javan Tiger |
Java in Indonesia |
Extinct, last seen in 1971 |
0 |
| Bali Tiger |
Bali in Indonesia |
Extinct, last one shot in 1937 |
0 |
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Animals have developed amazing adaptations to their environments. Many different types of energy & senses exist in the environment, some of which humans cannot detect.
Here are some examples of how some animals sense the outside world.
Cat
» Has hearing range between 100 and 60,000 Hz.
» Olfactory membrane about 14 sq. cm. For comparison, humans have an olfactory membrane of about 4 sq. cm.
Falcon
» Can see a 10 cm. object from a distance of 1.5 km.
Hawk
» Normal vision for people is 20/20. A hawk's vision is equivalent to 20/5. This means that the hawk can see from 20 feet what most people can see from 5 feet. (Scientific American, April 2001, page 24)
Pig
Tongue contains 15,000 taste buds. For comparison, the human tongue has 9,000 taste buds.
Snakes
» The tongue of snakes has no taste buds. Instead, the tongue is used to bring smells and tastes into the mouth. Smells and tastes are then detected in two pits, called "Jacobson's organs", on the roof of their mouths. Receptors in the pits then transmit smell and taste information to the brain.
» Snakes have no external ears. Therefore, they do not hear the music of a "snake charmer". Instead, they are probably responding to the movements of the snake charmer and the flute. However, sound waves may travel through bones in their heads to the middle ear.
» Snakes have no moveable eyelids. Instead, they have a clear, scale-like membrane covering the eye.
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What young animals are called
Antelope - calf
Bear - cub
Beasts of prey - whelp
Beaver - kit
Birds - fledgling, nestling
Cat - kitten
Codfish - codling, sprat
Cow - calf
Deer - fawn, yearling
Dog - pup, puppy
Duck - duckling
Eagle - eaglet
Eel - elver
Elephant - calf
Elephant seal - weaner
Fish - fry
Fowl - chick, chicken
Fox - cub, pup
Frog - polliwog, tadpole
Goat - kid
Goose - gosling
Grouse - cheeper
Guinea fowl - keet
Hawk - eyas
Hen - pullet |
Hippo - calf
Horse - foal, yearling, or colt (male), filly (female)
Kangaroo - joey
Lion - cub
Owl - owlet
Partridge - cheeper
Pig - piglet, shoat, farrow, suckling
Pigeon - squab, squeaker
Quail - cheeper
Rabbit - bunny, kit
Rat - pup
Rhino - calf
Rooster - cockerel
Salmon - parr, smolt, grilse
Seal - pup
Shark - cub
Sheep - lamb, lambkins
Swan - cygnet
Tiger - cub, whelp
Turkey - poult
Whale - calf
Zebra - foal |
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Collective names of animals
A herd of antelope
A colony or an army of ants
A shrewdness of apes
A herd or pace of asses
A culture of bacteria
A cete of badgers
A shoal of bass
A sleuth or sloth of bears
A colony of beavers
A swarm, grist or hive of bees
A flock, flight, congregation or volery of birds
A sedge or siege of bitterns
A sounder of boars
A herd of buffalo
A brace or clash of bucks
An army of caterpillars
A clowder or clutter of cats
A herd or drove of cattle
A brood or peep of chickens
A clutch or chattering of chicks
A bed of clams
A quiver of cobras
A rag of colts
A cover of coots
A kine of cows (twelve cows are a flink)
A band of coyote
A sedge or siege of cranes
A float of crocodiles
A murder of crows
A litter of cubs
A herd of curlews
A cowardice of curs
A herd of deer
A pack of dogs
A dule of doves
A brace, paddling or team of ducks
A clutch of eggs
A herd of elephants
A pod of elephant seals
A weaner pod is yearling elephant seals
A gang of elks
A mob of emus
A business or fesnyng of ferrets
A charm of finches
A school, shoal, run, haul, catch or draught of fish
A swarm of flies
A skulk or leash of foxes
An army or colony of frogs
A flock, gaggle or skein (in flight) of geese
A cloud or horde of gnats
A herd, tribe or trip goats
A charm of goldfinches
A band of gorillas
A leash of greyhounds
A down or husk of hares
A cast or kettle of hawks
A brood of hens
A hedge of herons
A drift, or parcel of hogs
A team, pair or harras of horses |
A pack, mute or cry of hounds
A smack of jellyfish
A troop or mob of kangaroos
A kindle or litter of kittens
An ascension or exaultation of larks
A leap (leep) of leopards
A pride of lions
A plague of locusts
A tiding of magpies
A sord of mallards
A stud of mares
A richness of martens
A labour of moles
A troop of monkeys
A barren or span of mules
A parliament of owls
A yoke, drove, team or herd of oxen
A bed of oysters
A company of parrots
A covey of partridges
A muster or ostentation of peacocks
A litter of peeps
A nest, nide (nye) or bouquet of pheasants
A flock or flight of pigeons
A litter of pigs
A wing or congregation of plovers
A string of ponies
A pod of porpoises
A covey or bevy of quail
A nest of rabbits
A pack or swarm of rats
A rhumba of rattlesnakes
An unkindness of ravens
A crash or herd of rhinos
A bevy of roebucks
A building or clamour of rooks
A herd or pod of seals
A drove or flock of sheep
A nest of snakes
A walk or wisp of snipe
A host of sparrows
A dray of squirrels
A murmuration of starlings
A mustering of storks
A flight of swallows
A bevy, herd, lamentation or wedge of swans
A flock of swifts
A sounder or drift of swine
A spring of teal
A knot of toads
A hover of trout
A rafter of turkeys
A pitying or dule of turtledoves
A bale of turtles
A pod of walrus
A school, gam or pod of whales
A nest of vipers
A pack or route of wolves
A fall of woodcocks
A descent of woodpeckers |
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- Kingdom -- Animalia
- Subkingdom -- Metazoa
- Phylum -- Chordata
- Sub phylum -- Vertebrata
- Class -- Mammalia
- Sub class -- Theria
- Infraclass -- Eutheria
- Order -- Carnivore
- Suborder -- Fissipedia
- Infraorder -- Eutheria
- Superfamily -- Feloridea
- Family -- Felidae
- Genus -- Panthera
- Species -- tigris
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