More about these beautiful Creatures
REPRODUCTION:
A female tiger or tigress , will reach maturity at about 3 years of age. When the female
comes into estrus, she will signal her willingness by scent marking the area and by roaring
loudly. A male tigers penis has spines which help to stimulate ovulation. This would make it
very clear as to why the female strikes out at the male after intercourse. Tigers will often
mate in the water to avoid the attention of flies.
The tigress will give birth every 2 to 3 years. Gestation is between 103 and 106 days. An
average litter size for a tiger is 2 to 3 cubs. The cubs are born blind and will weigh only 2 to
3 pounds depending on its subspecies. For 6 to 8 weeks, the cubs will drink from their
mothers milk. After this time, the tigress will begin taking her cubs to feed on her kills. At
18 to 20 months of age, the tigress will rear her young. When the cubs reaches 18 months,
they will begin to make their own kills. Ultimately, the young will stay with their mother until
they reach between 2 and 3 years of age. Males will travel further away to establish their
own territories than the females will. Often, the female cubs will establish territories next to
their mother. They will even share parts of their mothers territory.
MAN EATERS:
Generally, tigers avoid people. Tigers, more than any other "Big Cats", have earned a
reputation as being man eaters. Most confrontations occur when humans stray into reserved
areas to collect firewood or food for their villages or families. A tiger who attacks a human
is more often than not, an old or injured tiger who is unable to compete for normal prey.
Tiger attacks on humans are very rare!
Sunderban, a 4000 sqare mile area of densely forested river delta in India and Bangladesh, is
one exception to this rule. This area is home to up to 250 tigers. Humans have been targeted
as prey in this area. The Sunderban tigers are notorious! No one lives in this area, but the
people will come here to fish and gather wood and honey. Every year, human casualties are
reported in this area.
Tigers are the largest, most powerful cats in the world! Before 1900, there were eight
subspecies of tigers. These eight subspecies were the Bali, Bengal, Caspian, Indochinese,
Javan, Siberian, South China, and Sumatran. They were spread across Asia. Today, there are
only five subspecies that remain. The five remaining subspecies are the Bengal, Indochinese,
Siberian, South China, and Sumatran. Although there are these five subspecies who still
remain on our world, they are not out of trouble. All of these subspecies remain on the brink
of extinction. These subspecies are struggling to remain alive! An endangered species, the
tiger, there are only 5000 to 7400 left in the wild.
Poaching and forest clearing have restricted the range of the tigers habitation as well as
their numbers. Poaching remains as a huge market in some areas of the world. Tigers are
extensively hunted for their pelts, teeth, and bones which are used in traditional Chinese
medicines. All parts of the tiger can be sold for large amounts of money. The South China
tiger and the Siberian tiger have slumped to near extinction. Without some type of
intervention by us, the people, it is probable that these two subspecies will disappear forever
from their natural habitat. It saddens me to think that we may lose such a beautiful,
powerful, and majestic animal from our earth. The so-called reasons that people use for killing these animals are just
excuses. Traditional Chinese medications can be replaced by the use of our technology. We
have much better and more sophisticated medications and treatments that can be used rather
than destroying the creatures of this planet. Keep it in your heart and minds that someday
there will be no tigers here! Let the tiger live and roam free in their homelands.
PLEASE HELP SAVE THE TIGER!!!
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