While the stripes on tigers may seem noticeable when exposed, this surface helps them blend well into the dappled sunlight and shadows as long as they burrow into their jungle habitat, making them difficult to spot.
Not only that, tigers look almost two-dimensional, that is, from the side, they are large and muscular; But when viewed from the front or back, their hips and shoulders are so tight that they are almost impossible to spot when they are facing or moving away from you.
Of all the big cats, only lions are comparable in size to tigers. However, most lions are slightly smaller, with a body length of 2.2~2.5 meters, while an adult male tiger has a total length of 4 meters from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, the shoulder height is about 1 meter, and the tail accounts for about 1/3 of the total length of the tiger.
Male Bengal tigers can weigh more than 300 kg, equivalent to the weight of several adult males. However, they are usually lighter than this, most of which are 200~260kg.
Although female tigers are usually 1/3 smaller than male tigers and weigh 100~160 kg, they are still quite large animals. Both male and female tigers have a talent for hunting, they have strong shoulders and forelimbs, a thick neck, sharp and flexible claws, and a powerful lower jaw with huge and sharp teeth.
Unlike lions, social animals based on lion colonies, tigers live solitude for most of the year, except for mating periods when males and females get together and brief periods when females nurse their young.
Like other big cats, tigers are apex predators, but unlike the "Big Three" of Africa, which are lions, leopards and cheetahs, adult tigers have no real rivals because the main predators have disappeared from the tiger's habitat except leopards, which usually prey on small prey.
Tigers are nocturnal hunters, hunting all prey within a range of 7~30 kilometers every night, they use the classic "track-ambush" tactic, that is, first crawl slowly to approach the prey, and then pounce on the prey at the last moment.
Tigers can accelerate very quickly, reaching a maximum speed of 65 km/h in a few seconds, but they quickly exhaust themselves so much that they usually give up after pursuing their prey for tens of meters.
Like all opportunists, tigers hunt a wide variety of prey, from the largest deer (such as the large male sambar that weighs twice as much) to small mammals such as red deer, hares and porcupines.
Tigers can use different hunting methods depending on the size and strength of their prey. When hunting small animals, it will simply grab them and bite their back and neck with that terrible canine tooth, which can quickly bite off the spine of its prey, and then it will quickly eat the small prey.
But for large prey, especially high-risk prey such as horned bucks or wild boars with fangs, it will approach the target cautiously. After pounce on the target, it bites the throat of the target, then forcibly throws it to the ground with powerful forelimbs and holds it for some time in order to suffocate the prey.
The ability to kill animals larger and heavier than themselves makes tigers unique among large predators. Lions and cheetahs also hunt large prey, but usually in teams rather than individually.
Unlike them, the tiger always hunts alone, and once successful, it usually drags the carcass of its prey into a shelter in order to feed in an undisturbed environment and prevent other predators, including those competing with it, from snatching the prey.
When feeding, tigers start eating from the hind legs of their prey, tear large pieces of meat with their side teeth, and then eat the rest. An adult tiger can ingest up to 1/5 of its body weight from a single hunt, which can take two or three days.
After eating, tigers often cover the remains of their prey with various materials in case they need it in the future. After eating once, they usually don't need to eat for the following week in order to rest and digest the food.
Female Bengal tigers reach sexual maturity at the age of three or four and can send a clear estrus signal to any male in the vicinity, while larger and slightly older males (who reach sexual maturity about a year later than females) roam over vast areas in search of mates.
When the male tiger finds that a female tiger is in heat, he must act quickly, because the female tiger is only in the state of conception for 3~6 days. At the same time, it must keep a close eye on competitors – the scent of female tigers can travel far away, most likely attracting other males.
Like lions, male tigers mate frequently to ensure that female tigers are conceived: they can mate 50 times in 24 hours. Even so, the probability of a female tiger conceiving is still less than 50%, and in some cases only 20%.
After mating, the male and female tigers will part ways, and the male may never see his offspring. Once conceived again, the female will give birth to a litter in just 3 months, after which time the female will look for a place to use as a nest.
Tiger cubs weigh only 700~1400 grams when they are born, and they will only open their eyes after a week or two, they will live in the nest for about 8 weeks, mainly eating breast milk. Tiger cubs grow very quickly, gaining 4-fold in weight at 4 weeks of age.
Choosing a safe and secure nest is essential for the future of these little beings. In addition to the father of the cubs, the passing male tiger will not hesitate to kill any cubs it encounters, because then it can prevent competitors from successfully breeding.
Female tigers who lose their cubs usually quickly return to breeding to maximize the chances of mating and feeding their young.
Tiger cubs have a less than 50% chance of reaching adulthood, and in addition to male tigers attacking them, they may also die from accidents, bad weather, clashes with other predators such as leopards, human hunting, etc., and especially from starvation.
There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, except for a male and a female, but in most cases, the two tigers will simply gesture when they meet, and they will avoid fighting each other as much as possible, because this is likely to cause serious injury and even death.
What else do you know about tigers?
