Indian Bengal Tiger

The Bengal (Indian) tiger Panthera tigris tigris, distributed throughout the humid forests and grasslands of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal. Estimates of population size vary from about 3,000 to 5,000 Bengal tigers in the wild today. The Bengal tiger is India's national emblem and was declared so prior to 2500 B.C.

Distribution: The home to Royal Bengal Tigers (Indian Tigers or panthera tigris) is India Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma where these graceful animals live mostly in sanctuaries. The usual habitats for these animals are dense forest, mangrove swamps, savannahs, rocky countries and lush grassland. Bengal Tigers are the most numerous in population than any other Tiger subspecies. They are the largest living member of the cat family and the fastest running animal.

Diet: In the wild Bengal Tigers are pure carnivores and hunt medium-sized animals, such as rabbits, badgers, water buffalos, deer, wild boars, goats and sometimes they hunt domestic cattle. A Bengal Tiger will drag the kill to a safe place to eat. They are able to eat up to 40 pounds at a time and then go without eating for days. Some Tigers become man-eaters, but it happens to be very rare. In the zoo Bengal Tigers are fed chicken, horse meat and kangaroo meat five days a week and fast on bones twice a week.

Reproduction & Offspring: Mating can occur at any time, but happens to be usually between November and April. The females can have cubs at the age of 3-4 years; males reach maturity in about 4 years. After the gestation period of 103 days, 2-5 cubs are born. Newborn babies weigh about 2.2 pounds and are blind and helpless. The mother feeds them milk for 6-8 weeks and then the cubs are introduced to meat. Cubs of Bengal Tigers depend on the mother for 1.5 years and then they start hunting on their own.

Life Span: The Bengal Indian tigers in the wild live for about 10 to 15 years while tigers in zoos usually live between 16 and 20. years.

Facts about Bengal Indian Tiger:
- The appearance of this animal is amazing. They have orange or yellow and black stripes and weigh 400-575 pounds.

- They are very fast runners.

- They are also nocturnal, able climbers, and good swimmers.

- They have very keen senses and can leap up to 32 feet, and swim up to 18 miles.

- Bengal Tigers live in Southeast Asia, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, and are found in swamps, deserts, grasslands, and forests.

- They eat only meat like deer, water buffalo, wild pigs, small mammals, and sometimes even birds; therefore, they are classified as carnivores. This tiger has very strong teeth, and can bite through wood as thick as a 2-by-4.

- They have two to five babies in a litter and can even have twins. You can hear a Bengal tiger's roar from up to two miles away.

- The Bengal tiger purrs when it is happy or in pain.

- The roar of a Bengal tiger can be heard 2 miles away.