How much does an adult tiger weigh. Types of tigers

Man, considering himself the master of the planet, unfortunately, has already exterminated a large number of animals from the face of the Earth. The threat of extinction looms over the largest cats - tigers. These are large mammals, and although they themselves are predators, there are not so many of them left on Earth. Today they are listed in the Red Book, hunting for them is prohibited. Their habitat is Asia. For those who do not know where tigers live, here are the specific areas:

• Far East;
• China;
• India;
• Iran;
• Afghanistan;
• countries of Southeast Asia.

Depending on the habitat, they are divided into several types. Each of them bears the name of the area at the moment. So, the Amur live in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories of Russia, the royal Nepalese live in India, Nepal. There is also an Indochinese subspecies, it can be found in South China, Laos, Vietnam, and the Sumatran species of these beautiful animals lives on.

Tigers in Russia

It is impossible to tell in one article about each of the species of these huge striped cats and where tigers live, so we will focus on only one of them - the Ussuri. It lives in the Far Eastern taiga and is its most important decoration. This large mammal can reach a length of up to 290 cm, while having a tail half its body long.

For many Far Eastern peoples, it is a kind of object of worship. Despite his strength, he turned out to be very vulnerable and has a dramatic fate. Already in the 1930s, he was on the verge of extinction due to hunting. And only by the 1960s. the number has increased slightly. However, to this day there are those who want to hunt for him, although it is not so easy to find places where tigers live in the taiga. They are listed in the Red Book and protected by law in all countries of the world.

Popular misconception

Many mistakenly believe that tigers mainly live in Africa. However, this is misleading. These strong cats are an exclusively Asian species, in Africa they live only in zoos, they are not there in their natural habitat. But were they ever there? Many scientists are trying to solve this question, but reliable data has not yet been found.

In the legends of some African peoples, it is said that saber-toothed tigers lived on the continent, but it is difficult to answer whether this is really so. It is believed that this species existed in Eurasia and America, but for a very long time, about 30 thousand years ago. But from Africa, information about its existence is still being received, but so far they have not been able to find evidence of this. All information is based only on the stories of hunters who allegedly met with him. However, scientists believe that this animal species was closer to lions. They lived in prides and hunted together, while the tiger always lives alone. In the process of evolution, these beautiful and large cats may have split into several different species.

unusual animals

In the cat family, white individuals sometimes come across. There are such among the tigers. They are found in North and Central India, as well as in some other countries. Usually albino cubs are born from ordinary red individuals. In nature, their survival rate is almost zero, all because of the color. They cannot hunt normally and are usually doomed to death. To survive, they are kept in zoos.

The largest and northernmost predatory cat in the world, the Amur tiger, lives in Russia. The people dubbed the animal by the name of the taiga - the Ussuri or the name of the region - the Far East, and foreigners call the animal the Siberian tiger. In Latin, the subspecies is called panthera tigris altaica. There is no difference, but the official name is still the Amur tiger.

Characteristic

The Amur tiger is a predator from the cat family, the genus Panthera, a class of mammals. Belongs to the species of tigers, is a separate subspecies. The size is almost like a small car - 3 meters, and the weight is three times less - an average of 220 kg. By nature, males are a quarter larger than females.

Rare the animal has thick long hair - it protects from taiga frosts, and black stripes on it mask from enemies. The fur coat of the Amur tiger is not so bright and striped, unlike other subspecies. The color does not change in winter and summer - it remains red, but in winter it is a little lighter than in summer. The animal has rather wide paws - they help to walk in deep snow.

Black stripes serve as a camouflage © Camera trap NP "Land of the Leopard"

Thick wool protects from taiga frosts © Maia C, Flickr.com

The symbol of the Far East is listed in the International Red Book. In the 1930s, hunters exterminated 97% of the Far Eastern tigers. To save the animal from extinction, the state banned hunting for it, and since the 1960s, the number began to grow. For 90 years, the population has increased by 20 times, but this is not enough: the Amur tiger still has the status of a rare animal.

Life expectancy depends on conditions. In captivity, the animal will live up to 20 years because it has a safe home, food and veterinarians. In the wild taiga, the opposite is often the case: frost is -40 ° C, the absence of animals for food, the struggle for free territory, poaching. In freedom, tigers live a happy life, but twice as short - about 10 years. Although this is enough to live longer than their fellow species.

Amur tiger habitat

The Amur tiger lives in the southern part of the Far East. The main habitats are on the banks of the Amur and Ussuri rivers in the Khabarovsk Territory and at the foot of the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in the Primorsky Territory. Also, part of the animals is located in the Jewish Autonomous Region.

Some animals live in reserves, national parks and reserves - "Sikhote-Alinsky", "Lazovsky", "Bikin", "Land of the Leopard". Inspectors protect territories from poachers, rescue injured animals. It does not look like a zoo: predators live in free conditions, without restrictions on movement. But there is a problem - there is not enough space for the entire population, and 80% of the subspecies lives in unprotected taiga forests and hunting farms.

Far Eastern tigers choose the cedar-broad-leaved forests of the Ussuri taiga for life. If the cuttings are not stopped, the animals will lose their homes.

In Russia, the largest population of the Amur tiger is the pride of the Far Eastern taiga. Among all subspecies of tigers, Russia ranks second - we have 13% of the world population, the first place remains with India. Sometimes Amur tigers make a cross-border transition: by land or river, they get from Russia to neighboring countries - China or to the north of the DPRK. But this does not prevent our country from leading in the number of individuals.

Nutrition

The tiger is the top of the food chain in the Ussuri taiga ecosystem. This means that the entire Far Eastern nature depends on its numbers: if there is no tiger, there will be no nature. To prevent this from happening, there should be enough ungulates in habitats.

10 kg
a tiger should eat meat a day

The main diet is wild boar, spotted deer, red deer and roe deer. If these animals are not enough, tigers feed on badgers, raccoons, hares, fish, and sometimes overwhelm bears. In severe famine, Amur tigers attack livestock and dogs. But in order to be full and healthy, one tiger still needs fifty ungulates a year.

Lifestyle

Ussuri tigers are solitary in their way of life. The male meets with the female for a couple of days, does not participate in the upbringing of the cubs, and the female also lives her own life when the offspring reaches puberty. Amur tigers even go hunting alone, although it is more difficult to get food.

Amur tigers live for years in one territory, if there is enough food around. And only the factor of its absence can make them make the transition to another place. The territory is assigned to the tiger with odorous marks, scratches in the ground and bullying on trees. So if strangers decide to enter his territory, then only because of arrogant behavior - then a fight will occur.

The Amur tiger hunts around its territory. He sees the victim, crawls closer to her, arches his back and puts emphasis on the ground with his hind legs. If you manage to go unnoticed, after the jump, the predator takes the trophy, but according to statistics, only one in ten attempts is successful.

Amur tigers are solitary in their way of life © Leonid Dubeikovsky, WWF-Russia

The tiger hunts around its territory © Vladimir Filonov, WWF-Russia

1 out of 10 attempts to get food ends in success © Viktor Nikiforov, WWF-Russia

Each cat has its own place: 20 km2 is enough for a female, and 100 km2 for a male in the Far Eastern taiga. Tiger cubs settle in places hidden from strangers, which the mother equips in thickets, crevices and caves. One male has 2-3 females with offspring in the territory.

Amur tigers breed once every two years. After 3-4 months, the tigress hatches from two to four cubs. At first, the mother feeds the cubs with milk, they try meat only at two months. Around the clock, the mother is next to the children only for the first week, then she goes hunting. Until the age of two, the tigress teaches her cubs to get food, they live with her. Tiger cubs become mature by the age of three or four.

Animals show their emotions with sounds and touches. For example, when you need to greet each other, they exhale rhythmically through their mouths and noses. To show sympathy or tenderness, they rub against each other and purr like domestic cats. In irritation, they wheeze and growl softly, in rage they make sounds similar to coughing.

A male has up to 3 females with cubs © Victor Zhivotchenko, WWF-Russia

tiger and man

Relationships with humans are a complex issue for Russian tigers. On the one hand, because of people, they were on the verge of extinction, but thanks to people, the population grew. Population growth also raised a question: now the animals need more space and food. Again, human activity interferes with this through logging, fires and poaching.

Due to the lack of ungulates, predators sometimes come to the villages for cattle and dogs, which disturbs the local residents. Between 2000 and 2016, there were 279 such conflicts in which 33 tigers died. Tigers avoid contact with people: instincts are responsible for hunting wild animals, in rare cases, domestic ones. There are two cases when a tiger reacts to a person - he is injured or he has nowhere to run.

At the same time, local residents help the tigers, but they do not touch people. When the townspeople encounter the beast near the settlements, they call in a task force. Conflict minimization specialists arrive and take the predator to a rehabilitation center. There are two of them in the south of the Far East: Utes in the Khabarovsk Territory and the Tiger Center in Primorye.

In rehabilitation centers, the animals are fed, nurtured, but they are not allowed to get used to captivity - this is how they retain their instincts. Before being released into the wild, predators are put on a GPS collar: it allows specialists to make sure that the animal does not come to people anymore.

Tiger Uporny came to the village of Vyazemsky and crushed three local dogs due to lack of food. Residents did not fight and called inspectors to resolve conflicts. The exhausted predator was taken to the Utes rehabilitation center, and six months later they were released into the taiga, wearing a GPS collar. Thanks to the collar, the staff of the center made sure that the wild instincts did not disappear: Persistent hunted without problems and established contacts with other tigers in the wild, but he no longer came to people.

The tiger (lat. Panthera tigris) is a predatory mammal from a fairly large feline family, as well as a typical representative of the genus Panthera (lat. Panthera) from the subfamily Big cats. Translated from the Greek language, the word "Tiger" means "sharp and fast."

Description of tigers

Representatives of this species include the largest predatory animals from the cat family. Almost all subspecies of currently known tigers are among the largest and strongest terrestrial predators, therefore, in terms of mass, such mammals are second only to brown and polar bears.

Appearance, color

The tiger is the largest and heaviest of all wild cats. Nevertheless, different subspecies differ markedly from each other not only in their characteristic appearance, but also in size and average body weight, and mainland representatives of this species are always significantly larger than island tigers. The largest to date are the Amur subspecies and Bengal tigers, adult males of which reach a length of 2.5-2.9 m and weigh up to 275-300 kg and even a little more.

The average height of the animal at the withers is 100-115 cm. The elongated body of a predatory mammal is massive, muscular and excellently flexible, and its front part is noticeably better developed than the back and sacrum. The tail is long, evenly fluffed, always ends in a black tip and is distinguished by transverse stripes that form a continuous ring type around it. The powerful strong front paws of the beast have five fingers each, and four fingers are located on the hind legs. On all fingers of such an animal there are retractable claws.

The rounded large head has a noticeably protruding front and a convex frontal region. The skull is rather massive, with widely spaced cheekbones and nasal bones extending over the maxillary bones. The ears are relatively small, rounded in shape. Tanks are located on the sides of the head.

White, very elastic vibrissae are characteristically arranged in four or five rows, and their length reaches 165 mm with an average thickness of 1.5 mm. The pupils are round, the iris is yellow. All adult tigers, along with most other members of the cat family, have three dozen well-developed and strong, sharp teeth.

It is interesting! The tracks of the male are larger and more elongated than those of the females, and the middle fingers protrude quite clearly in the forward direction. The length of the track of the male is 150-160 mm with a width of 130-140 mm, the female - 140-150 mm with a width of 110-130 mm.

A predatory mammal of the southern type is characterized by low and rather rare, low hairline with good density. Northern tigers have fluffy and rather high fur. The base coloration of the background can range from rusty reddish to rusty brownish. The abdomen and chest area, as well as the inner surface on the paws, are distinguished by a light color.

On the back of the ears there are characteristic light markings. On the trunk and neck there are transverse vertical stripes, which are quite densely located on the back half. On the muzzle below the location of the nostrils, in the area of ​​vibrissae, chin and lower jaw, a pronounced white coloration is noted. The forehead zone, parietal and occipital regions are characterized by the presence of a complex and variable pattern, formed by means of short transverse black stripes.

It is important to remember that the distance between the stripes and their shape vary greatly among representatives of different subspecies, but in most cases more than a hundred stripes cover the skin of an animal. The striped pattern is also present on the skin of the predator, so if you shave off all the fur, then it is completely restored in accordance with the original type of staining.

Character and lifestyle

The tiger, regardless of subspecies, is a very typical representative of territorial animals. Adult individuals lead a solitary lifestyle and have their own area on which hunting is carried out. An individual site, ranging in size from 20 to 100 km 2, is very fiercely guarded by a predator from encroachments by other representatives of the genus, but the territory of a male and a female may well overlap.

Tigers are not able to pursue their prey for several hours, so such a predatory beast attacks with a lightning dash from a special ambush after the prey has been caught up. Predatory mammals from the feline family hunt in two different ways: very quietly sneaking up on the prey or waiting for their prey in a pre-selected ambush. At the same time, the maximum distance between such a hunter and his prey can be quite impressive, but not more than 120-150 m.

It is interesting! In the process of hunting, an adult tiger has a jump height of up to five meters, and the length of such a jump can reach about ten meters.

The unexpectedness of the attack practically does not give any victims of a wild animal even the slightest chance of survival, due to the inability of the animals to gain sufficient speed for a rescue escape. An adult and strong tiger is literally in a matter of seconds able to be near its frightened prey. Males quite often share part of their prey, but exclusively with females.

How long do tigers live

Amur tigers in natural conditions live for about fifteen years, but when kept in captivity, their life expectancy is slightly longer, and averages twenty years. The life span of a Bengal tiger in captivity can reach a quarter of a century, and in the natural environment - only fifteen years. Indochinese, Sumatran and Chinese tigers in nature can live eighteen years. A real long-liver among tigers is considered to be the Malayan tiger, whose life expectancy in natural, natural conditions is a quarter of a century, and when kept in captivity - about four to five years longer.

Types of tigers

There are only nine subspecies belonging to the Tiger species, but by the beginning of the last century, only six of them managed to survive on the planet:

• (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as the Ussuri, North Chinese, Manchurian or Siberian tiger - lives mainly in the Amur Region, on the territory of the Jewish Autonomous Region, in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories. The largest subspecies, characterized by thick and fluffy, fairly long fur with a dull red background and not too many stripes;
• (Panthera tigris tigris) - is a nominative subspecies of the tiger that lives in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, in Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan. Representatives of this subspecies inhabit a wide range of various biotopes, including tropical rainforests, dry savannahs and mangroves. The average weight of a male can vary between 205-228 kg, and females - no more than 140-150 kg. The Bengal tiger, which lives in northern India and Nepal, is larger than the individuals inhabiting the young regions of the Indian subcontinent;
• indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris sorbetti) is a subspecies that lives in Cambodia and Myanmar, as well as inhabiting southern China and Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. The Indochinese tiger has a darker color. The average weight of a mature male is about 150-190 kg, and that of an adult female is 110-140 kg;
• Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) is one of the six representatives of the genus that have survived to this day, found in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Previously, the entire population was customarily attributed to the Indochinese tiger;
• (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is the smallest of all currently existing subspecies, and the average weight of an adult male is approximately 100-130 kg. Females are noticeably smaller in size, so their weight does not exceed 70-90 kg. The small size is a way of adapting to living in the tropical forest zones of Sumatra;
• Chinese tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) is one of the smallest representatives of all subspecies. The maximum body length of the male and female is 2.5-2.6 m, and the weight can vary between 100-177 kg. The genetic diversity of this subspecies is extremely small.

Extinct subspecies are represented by the Bali tiger (Panthera tigris balica), the Transcaucasian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) and the Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica). Fossils include the primitive subspecies Panthera tigris acutidens and the oldest subspecies of the Trinil tiger (Panthera tigris trinilensis).

Range, habitats

Initially, tigers were quite widespread in Asia.

However, to date, all representatives of the subspecies of such predators have been preserved exclusively in sixteen countries:

• Laoc;
• Bangladesh;
• Republic of the Union of Myanmar;
• Bhutan,
• Cambodia;
• Socialist Republic of Vietnam;
• Russia;
• Public India;
• Islamic Republic of Iran;
• Republic of Indonesia;
• China;
• Malaysia;
• Islamic Republic of Pakistan;
• Thailand;
• Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

Habitual tiger habitats are northern taiga zones, semi-desert and forest areas, as well as dry savanna and humid tropical regions.

It is interesting! Almost all wild cats are afraid of water, therefore, if possible, they try to bypass water bodies, and tigers, on the contrary, are excellent swimmers and love water, using bathing to get rid of heat and overheating.

Quite steep cliffs with numerous niches and secret caves are among the most favorite territories where tigers equip their comfortable and reliable lair, hunt, and raise offspring. Inhabited areas can be represented by secluded reed or reed thickets near water bodies.

Tiger Diet

All subspecies of tigers are representatives of the order of predators, so the main food of such wild animals is exclusively meat. The diet of a large feline mammal may have some significant differences depending on the main features of the animal's habitat. For example, the main prey of the Bengal tiger is most often wild boar, Indian sambar, nilgai and axis. Sumatran tigers prefer to hunt wild boars and tapirs, as well as sambar deer. Amur tigers feed mainly on deer, as well as wild boars.

Among other things, Indian buffaloes and hares, monkeys and even fish can be considered as prey for tigers. Too hungry predatory animals are able to eat frogs, all kinds of rodents or other small animals, as well as berry crops and some fruits. The facts are well known, according to which adult tigers can, if necessary, quite successfully hunt some predators, represented by crocodiles, boas, as well as Himalayan and brown or their cubs.

As a rule, sexually mature male Amur tigers, having large sizes and impressive muscles, enter into a fight with young bears. The outcome of the struggle of such strong predators can be absolutely unpredictable. There is also information according to which tigers often attack cubs. In zoological parks, the diet of tigers is compiled very carefully, taking into account all the recommendations given by experts from the Eurasian Regional Association.

At the same time, the age characteristics of a predatory mammal, as well as its weight, the sex of the animal and the characteristics of the season are taken into account without fail. The main food of the predator in captivity is represented by animal products, including chickens, rabbits and beef. The diet also includes milk, eggs, fish and some other types of highly nutritious protein foods.

In one day, an adult predator is able to eat about ten kilograms of meat, but the rate depends on the species characteristics of the animal and its size. Other products are offered to the tiger periodically and in limited quantities. In captivity, the diet of predators from the Feline family is supplemented with vitamin mixtures and healthy supplements with basic minerals, which contributes to the proper growth of the skeleton and prevents the development of rickets in animals.

A hundred years ago, the population of tigers on our planet was about 100,000. Almost half of them lived on the Hindustan Peninsula. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, the situation changed dramatically.

There are currently no more than 4,000 tigers left in the wild. Even children can answer the question of where the tiger lives. Previously, these "cats" lived in India and China, as well as in eastern Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Armenia, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan. However, in our time, it is almost impossible to meet these graceful predators in regions of the planet so natural for them. Tigers are dying out as a species, and the main reason lies in the activities of a person who not only hunts this beast, but also changes the conditions familiar to its existence. So what is this animal - a tiger? Where does it live, what does this type of cat family eat?

Tiger subspecies

Tigers differ in coat color and size, depending on the territory in which they live. Thus, several subspecies of this cat family have been identified.

The Bengal tiger prefers life in dry savannas, mangroves and rainforests. Such conditions can be found on the territory of modern India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Quite a lot of these animals live there - about two thousand individuals.

The largest population of the Indochinese tiger lives in Malaysia. It was possible to save this subspecies due to the fact that tough laws were introduced in the country that successfully fight against poaching.

Chinese is on the brink of extinction. Where does the tiger of this subspecies live? It is no longer possible to meet him in the wild. Chinese tigers are preserved only in the country's zoos, but the Chinese government is trying to return this species of cats to their natural habitat.

The largest and smallest "cat" of the planet

Tigers are able to live not only on the continent. There are representatives of this species who have chosen the nature of the island of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula as their habitat. They differ from their relatives primarily in body size. The maximum weight that an adult can reach is 120-130 kilograms. Sumatran tigers are considered the smallest among their other relatives.

And the largest cat on the planet is the Amur tiger. Where does this subspecies of the cat family live, which is also called Ussuri or Far Eastern? now we'll tell you!

Where do the Ussuri tigers live? What is their lifestyle?

In accordance with its name, tigers of this subspecies are distributed in the Amur and Ussuri river basins, as well as in the southeastern part of Russia and in the Primorsky Territory. Only 5% of individuals of this subspecies can be found in China.

Unlike their close relatives (lions), tigers lead a solitary lifestyle. Adults never gather in flocks. They have their own territory - a special place where the tiger lives and hunts. In addition, in this matter, the animals we are considering are distinguished by an enviable constancy. For many years they do not leave their site, year after year bypass the same paths, thus declaring to all their relatives that this place is already occupied. To mark the boundaries of their territory, tigers use scent marks, as do most cats. In addition, they can make marks on trees by peeling off their bark with their claws. Such traces can be found even at a height of two and a half meters.

What do tigers eat?

The main diet of tigers is made up of such ungulates as sika deer, wild boar and red deer. At the same time, a tiger must eat at least ten kilograms of meat per day. Thus, every year in the territory where the tiger lives, about 50-70 animals die. This type of predator is capable of hunting at any opportunity convenient for it.

Unlike other members of the cat family, tigers are not afraid of water, so they very often supplement their diet with fish that they catch during spawning.

Hunt, as well as live, tigers alone. And only one attempt out of ten ends with luck. Perhaps the whole point is that these predators prefer not to pursue a prey that was able to escape, but to hunt down a new one.

If the amount of food is drastically reduced, the tiger may leave its territory and start preying on livestock or dogs. At the same time, a young healthy animal is never the first to attack a person. Only old or injured individuals who are unable to hunt large prey can do this.

Reproduction and education of offspring

As already mentioned, tigers are loners, so their mating season is not associated with any particular time of the year. Mating occurs when the male finds a female. He stays near her for no more than 5-7 days, after which he leaves.

To bear offspring, a pregnant tigress needs from 95 to 112 days. Tiger cubs are born completely blind and helpless. Therefore, they are forced to stay with their mother. They begin to see only a week and a half after birth. After about 15 days, their teeth begin to erupt. Up to two months, the mother feeds the kittens with milk. And only after this time the cubs taste the meat for the first time.

From about six months old, young offspring begin to accompany their mother during the hunt, but do not participate in it. Young animals begin to hunt on their own after reaching one year. A tiger can kill big game on its own only two years after birth.

Tiger cubs live with their mother until puberty. After they can feed themselves on their own, the cubs separate. However, the territory where tigers from new offspring live belongs to their mother. Here are the orders...

Where does the white tiger live?

Contrary to popular belief, the white tiger is not a separate subspecies. This feature of his color is the result of gene mutation. Some individuals lack the pigment that should color the coat yellow. At the same time, the black bars remain in place.

The birth of a white tiger is a very rare occurrence. An albino can appear in an ordinary tiger family, regardless of its subspecies. For 10 thousand individuals with a yellow color, only one white is found.

Most often, white beauties are born in captivity, as they are descendants of the same animal. Therefore, the main places where tigers live are zoos or private nurseries.

A cat protected by the state

Over the past hundred years, the population of the Amur tiger has decreased by 25 times. No more than 450 individuals of this subspecies remain in the wild. The main reason for their disappearance was poaching. These beauties are destroyed for the sake of the skin, in addition, in East Asia, bones and other parts of the killed animal, whose name is the Amur tiger, are also used as valuable medicinal raw materials. Where does this subspecies live after the destruction of its habitat?

Basically, individuals of the same population cannot contact each other due to the fact that they live in isolation from each other. The reason for this isolation is human activity. Thus, the number of predators is significantly affected by the declining factor of their genetic diversity. The imbalance between the predator and its main prey is also negative, because the number of the latter also decreases every year.

Now the Ussuri tiger is listed in the Red Book. In Russia, a poacher must pay a fine for killing him. For reference: in China, the death penalty is provided for such a crime.

Tiger ( Panthera tigris) - a predator of the class mammals, such as chordates, predatory orders, cat families, panther genera, subfamilies big cats. It got its name from the ancient Persian word tigri, which means "sharp, fast", and from the ancient Greek word for "arrow".

The tiger is the largest and heaviest member of the cat family. Males of some tigers reach a length of 3 meters and weigh over 300 kg. Tigers are listed in the Red Book, and hunting for these animals is prohibited.

Often, defenseless domestic animals and small elephants become prey. In summer, nuts and fruits are added to the main meat menu of tigers.

Amur tigers eat red deer, wild boar, elk, and deer. Bengal tigers sometimes attack porcupines.

Indochinese tigers prey on wild boars, sambar, serow, banteng and gaur, and also attack porcupines, macaques, teleda (pork badgers), muntzhak. Malayan tigers feed on wild boars, barking deer, sambar deer, and may even attack a Malay bear.

Tigers hunt alone, using 2 main methods: they sit in ambush or carefully sneak up on the victim. Both techniques are successfully completed with rapid jumps or a jerk. One tiger jump is 5 m high and 10 m long. The tiger gnaws the throat of small animals, and knocks large mammals to the ground and gnaws the cervical vertebrae.

If the tiger's hunt was unsuccessful, and the victim turned out to be stronger or ran away, then the tiger does not attack again. Predators eat prey while lying down, holding the meat with their paws.

tiger breeding

The breeding season for tigers is December and January. Females are ready to bear offspring at 3-4 years, males mature by 5 years. As a rule, a tigress is courted by one male tiger; in conditions of increased numbers, there are fights among males for the right to possess a female.

A tigress can conceive only a few times a year, brings offspring every 2-3 years. On average, the bearing of offspring in tigers lasts 103 days.

The birth of a tigress takes place in a lair arranged in inaccessible places: rock crevices, caves, impassable thickets.

Usually 2-4 cubs, a tiger cub, are born, in rare cases there can be 6 of them. After a week, newborn cubs open their eyes, for the first six months they are on milk feeding. At the age of 2 months, the mother and offspring leave the den.

One and a half year old tigers are quite independent, although many do not leave their mother until they are 3-5 years old.

On average, tigers live 26-30 years, during which time a tigress is able to give birth to up to 20 cubs, many of which often die in their youth.

Tigers perfectly adapt to the conditions of life in captivity and breed well. The increase in the number of offspring bred in captivity contributed to the fall in the price of predatory cats and made it possible for people, in particular Americans, to acquire a tabby predator as a pet.

• Animals such as tigers have long been the subject of all sorts of myths and legends. For example, many consider the saber-toothed tiger to be the progenitor of modern striped predators. In fact, belonging to the cat family, the ancient species is considered a saber-toothed cat, not a tiger.
• Most wild cats are afraid of water and avoid bodies of water whenever possible. But not a tiger. This predator is an excellent swimmer, loves water and never misses an opportunity to soak up the heat in a cool lake or river.