Tiger

Subspecies of tiger, called the Bengal tiger (lat. Panthera tigris tigris или Panthera tigris bengalensis) inhabiting Pakistan, eastern Iran, central and northern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh.

It is the most numerous subspecies of tiger, notwithstanding the fact that this animal is completely extinct in Afghanistan.

Did you know that the Bengal tiger is considered a national animal in Bangladesh, China and India.

The large, graceful felines have brightly coloured fur in stripes. The color of the fur can range from yellow to light orange, and the stripes - from brown to black. Their white belly and striped tail make them look like plush toys.

There are mutations of the Bengal subspecies - sometimes white tiger individuals are born with dark brown or even reddish-brown stripes on the white fur. Very rarely, white tiger cubs are born with the stripes completely missing.

Body length is measured together with the tail. The male is usually 270 - 330 cm long. There are documented cases when individuals were 370 cm long - almost 4 meters! Can you imagine such a cat?

The female is usually smaller by size - her length constitutes up to 240 cm, maximum up to 310 cm.

Bengal tigers range in height from 90 to 110-115 cm.

The length of the tiger's tail makes up almost a third of the common figure: 85-110 cm.

The Bengal tiger is the cat with the largest teeth (fangs can exceed 8 cm in length).

The animal's mass exceeds 200 kg. Tigers in India grow up to 220 kg, in Nepal - up to 235 kg. Felines can also grow to 235 kg. The mass of the female usually does not exceed 220 kg (maximum recorded index - 193 kg).

Currently, the absolute record was set for the male killed in North India in 1967, whose mass was 388.7 kg. This official index has been recognised as the highest of all tiger subspecies.

The howl of a mature animal can be heard up to 3 km away!

In the 1970s scientists artificially bred a small species of white tiger. These animals were 'created' exclusively for zoo beautification, as in the wild the unusual color for this species would make them stand out in natural conditions, which would make hunting them in summer in the forests impossible. The change in color is caused by changes in the pigmentation of the animals' fur. Notwithstanding this, the black stripes did not suffer. At the same time, white cats often have blue eyes.

In the wild tigers usually avoid humans, but there are exceptions. Historically, the most common cases of attack have been on the Indian side of the range. Scientists assume that these attacks are caused by elementary weaknesses of the injured feline. Tigers attack spiny pigs, the needles of which are venomous. The acute pain inflicted on the animal, in whose fur are the victim's "arrows", does not allow the feline to acquire food by the usual method, using its cunning and strength. The weakened animal is forced to leave the victim alone and hunt small animals and humans. So do old and sick animals that live not far from densely populated areas bordered by reserves.