About Indian Tiger

The Indian tiger has perhaps attracted more vivid portrayals than any other species. If looked in the socio religious context, this isn’t surprising at all. While the tiger has been traditionally associated with the Indian Goddesses Durga, today it has also become a symbol of national pride. Efforts for its conversation have been quite remarkable. In India, you can catch more than a glimpse of the Indian tiger


The tiger Land : Historically, tigers lived in all the regions of India, from the snow – covered Himalayas at elevations of 10,000 feet, to the forests of south India. Tigers may inhabit high mountain terrain, dry tropical forests, humid evergreen forests and mangrove swamps, humid evergreen forests and mangrove swamps.

Tiger land bandhavgarhAn adult tiger defends a large area from all other tiger of same sex. The primary resource of this territory is food. A female’s territory must contain enough prey to support herself and her cubs. A male’s territory, additionally, must offer access to females with which to mate. Thus, a male’s territory overlaps with that of one to seven females. Male territories are always large than those of females. Male territory size varies enormously and is directly related to the abundance of prey-rich habitats defend quite small territories and female territories average just eight square miles.

The Tiger Family : Except for a mother and her cubs, tiger live and hunt alone. But that does not mean they are not social. Scent marks and visual signposts (scratch marks) allow tigers to track other tigers in the area and even identify individuals. A female’s tiger knows the other females of nearby territories and in many cases; a neighbour may be her daughter. Females know their overlapping males take over. All tigers can identify passing strangers. So, while solitary tigers actually have a rich social life, they just prefer to socialize from a distance.

Tiger breed between the months of February till May, just after the rainy season in Asia. After breeding, 15-16 weeks will pass by before their cubs are born. Female tigers called tigress seeks out a den and prepares for her litter. Male tigers stay with a female for only a short time after their cubs are born.

When tiger cubs are sixth moth old, they are ready to join their parents on hunts. They stay with their mothers until age two. After that they are to live on their own Tigers may live for as long as 20 years.

Call for the Prey : Tigers prey primarily on wild boar and other swine and medium to large deer such as chital, red deer and sambar. When hunting together, tigers also hunt gaur, huge wild cattle.

The tiger hunts alone, primarily between dusk and dawn, traveling 6 to 20 miles in a night in search of prey. A typical predatory sequence includes a slow, silent stalk until the tiger is 30 to 35 feet from the selected prey, followed by a lightening fast rush to close the gap. The tiger then grabs the animal in its forepaws, a bite on the neck or throat. After dragging the carcass to a secluded spot, the tiger eats. A tiger eats 33 to 40 pounds of meat on an average night and must kill about once every week. Catching a meal is not easy, a tiger is successful only once in 10 to 20 hunts.