Bengal Tiger
Classification
Scientific name- Panthera Tigris Tigris or Panthera Tigris bengalensis
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chardata
Class- Mammalia
Order- Carnivora
Family- Felidae
Genus- Panthera
Species- Tigris
Habitat
The Bengal Tiger can be found in India as well as, Bengladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. Bengal tigers are often found in Tropical Rainforest's as well as dense forest, marshlands swamplands and tall grasses through out the Indian subcontinent. National parks in these countries as Sundarbans and Ranthambore are home to most of these. There is also an important town in Nepal, mainly in the park Chitawan.
Fast facts
- Tigers are the largest members of the cat family and are renowned for their power and strength.
- A tiger's roar can be heard as far as 2 miles away.
- The life span of tigers in the wild is thought to be about 10 years. Tigers in zoos live twice as long.
- Due to a retinal adaptation that reflects light back to the retina, the night vision of tigers is six times better than that of humans.
Anatomy
Diet
- They are powerful nocturnal hunters that travel many miles to find buffalo, deer, wild pigs, and other large mammals.
- Bengal Tigers like many other predators usually look for weak or young animals that are easier to catch than larger, older and faster animals
- Tigers consume up to 40kg (88 pounds) of meat at once
- It is estimated that every tiger consumes about 50 deer-sized animals each year, about one per week.
- A tiger can eat 100 pounds of meat a night
Adaptations
Threats
Wild tiger numbers are at an all-time low. We have lost 97% of wild tigers in just over a century. Tigers may be one of the most revered animals, but they are also vulnerable to extinction. As few as 3,200 exist in the wild today. Tigers have lost 93% of their historic range. Their habitat has been destroyed, degraded and fragmented by human activities, including the clearing of forests for agriculture and timber trade and development activities such as the building of road networks. Fewer tigers can survive in small, scattered islands of habitat, which lead to a higher risk of inbreeding. These small islands of habitat also make tigers more vulnerable to poaching. As forests shrink and prey gets scarce, tigers are forced to hunt domestic livestock, which many local communities depend on for their livelihood. Therefore the consequence is getting captured and killed.