Tiger - Description, habitat, food, subspecies, enemies, photos and videos. Types of tigers. Where do tigers live and what do they eat?

The tiger is the largest predator of the cat family. One of the five representatives of the Panther genus from the big cat subfamily, along with the lion, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard.

Description

The word tiger comes from the Latin "tigris", the Romans, in turn, borrowed the name from the ancient Greeks. Presumably the word came to ancient Greece from Persia; translated from the Persian tiger it means “sharp”. In ancient Iran, tiger meant arrow, which may be due to the animal's quick reaction and lightning-fast jump.

The tiger was first described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in his monumental work “System of Nature” in 1758; he also assigned the scientific name “Felis tigris” to the animal, translated from Latin as cat tiger. Since 1929, the animal has been assigned to the genus Panthera with the scientific name Panthera tigris, which it bears to this day. The tiger's closest relative is the snow leopard, and not the lion, leopard and jaguar, as previously thought.

Origin story

Carl Linnaeus was the first to make a scientific description of the animal in his work Systema naturæ. The scientist described a large representative of the cat family under the name Felis tigris. The famous Russian naturalist Nikolai Severtsov described an animal called Tigris striatus in 1858. British zoologist George Gray described a striped king of the jungle called Tigris regalis in 1867. In 1929, scientists assigned the tiger to the genus Panthera.

Data regarding the development of the species were obtained from the analysis of remains and studies in the field of molecular phylogenetics. Scientists have found that the species comes from eastern Asia, in particular from northern China and the island of Java. The size of the ancestors of modern tigers was somewhere between the dimensions of Indian leopards and the subspecies of the tiger living in the Sunda archipelago.

The animal remains that were found in the Jetis strata in Java are dated to be between 1.66 and 1.81 million years old. It follows from this that approximately 2 million years ago, striped animals were common in the eastern regions of Asia, living on the islands of Borneo and Palawan.

It was previously believed that wild cats appeared in the territory of modern northern China, but recent research indicates a wider range of their habitat.

Small-sized individuals existed in Japan and on the island. Sakhalin. Scientists explain this phenomenon by insular dwarfism.

Cats later spread from eastern Asia to India. There is a hypothesis that the animals inhabited the island of Kalimantan, on whose territory the fangs of ancient tigers were found. For example, paleontologists recently found the top of a tooth in Nia Cave, which is located on the Malaysian part of the island of Sarawak.

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What does a tiger look like - size and appearance

The tiger is the largest wild cat in the world, has an elongated muscular body, a large head and powerful limbs. The height of the animal at the withers is up to 1.15 meters. Males can weigh from 90 to 300 kg with a total length of 250 to 390 cm including tail. The length of the tail is approximately half the length of the body. Females weigh on average from 65 to 167 kg with a total length of 200 to 275 cm.

The size difference between males and females in tigers is much greater than in other felines. Males are on average 1.7 times larger than females. Males also have more massive paws, which makes it possible to distinguish the sex of the animal by the tracks it leaves. The size of tigers varies greatly depending on the subspecies of the animal and the richness of the food supply. On average, mainland tigers are much larger than island tigers. The largest are Amur and Bengal tigers, among them there are record-breaking males weighing up to 385 kg. Island animals usually weigh no more than 142 kg.

The animal's fur is quite sparse, dense and short in predators living in the south. In cold regions, the predator's fur is longer and fluffier. Tigers have whiskers—longer, mane-like fur—that grow around their necks and jaws. The animal's head is large and round, with a convex forehead and widely spaced jaws. The eyes are yellow. The predator's ears are very small, rounded with white fur inside.

The animal's base color ranges from orange to brownish, with white areas on the neck and chest. The black stripes are unique to each animal. Tigers are one of the few cats with a striped color; spotted cats are much more common in nature. Vertical stripes on their sides help tigers camouflage in tall grass. The orange color of the coat also helps the animal with camouflage. Since the predator's prey only sees 2 colors, the orange color blends with the grass in the eyes of the ungulates.

Dimensions

A tiger's weight, length and height depend on the region where it lives: mainland subspecies are usually larger than those that live on the islands.

Below are the average lengths and weights of males of some varieties. Females are usually 20% smaller and lighter.

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White and black tiger

The animal has other color options - white, gold, snow-white without stripes, black. They are practically never found in the wild due to a sharp decline in the population, but are regularly observed in animals in captivity. The white tiger has white fur with light brown stripes.

The golden tiger has pale yellow fur with an ashen tint and reddish-brown stripes. The snow-white color is characterized by almost invisible, very pale stripes and reddish-brown rings on the tail.

Both white and golden tigers are not a separate breed, but the result of a genetic mutation, a lack of pheomelanin in the body, the pigment responsible for the orange color of the fur. Black tigers are the result of pseudo-melanism. In true melanism, the coat color is black. The main color of black tigers is not black, but the usual orange, so they are not melanos. The dark stripes of black tigers are disproportionately large in size, and behind the large stripes the main color is difficult to see, so the skin appears dark in color.

In the middle of the 20th century in Asia they tried to specially breed white tigers by crossing white individuals exclusively with each other. To inherit white color, both parents must have the genetic mutation. This led to inbreeding. Due to inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity, white tigers born in captivity have developed many health problems not common to these animals. In the wild, the chance of an animal being born white is 1 in 1,000. Currently, zoos prefer not to crossbreed white tigers so as not to increase the genetic anomaly and preserve genotypic variability.

Facts 31-35

31. Tigers are very adaptable to their hunting methods. Although they prefer to kill by attacking the prey's neck, they do not do so when they realize it is inappropriate. For example, a swimming tiger can be bitten by a crocodile, which is immediately blinded by a cat's blow. The crocodile's neck is covered with a very thick layer of skin, so the tiger will gut the reptile's soft belly.

32. Tiger saliva is an antiseptic. He licks the wounds and thereby disinfects them.

33. Like other cats, the top of a tiger's tongue is covered with fleshy bristles, so when they lick themselves, they simultaneously comb their fur.

34. Unlike many other animals, tigers do not drink water by lapping it. Instead, they dip the edge of their tongue into the water, draw water with it, and then simply close their mouth.

35. Today there are six subspecies of the tiger: the Amur tiger, the South China tiger, the Indochinese tiger, the Malayan tiger, the Sumatra tiger and the Bengal tiger.

Character and lifestyle

In the wild, without human intervention, tigers are active primarily during the day, unlike other felines. The predator rarely climbs trees, but is capable of doing so if necessary. Tigers are excellent swimmers and often bathe in rivers, lakes and other bodies of water to escape the heat. The animal can swim across a river up to 7 km wide and swim up to 29 km per day.

Like other big cats, tigers lead a solitary lifestyle. Adults usually have their own territory. The size of the site varies depending on the terrain, the amount of prey and the sex of the animal, on average up to 150 square kilometers for males and up to 50 for females. Animals mark their territory with urine, feces, and claw marks on trees. 2-4 females can live in a male’s territory, while the males’ territories never intersect. Young females usually occupy a site not far from their mother; young males, on the contrary, go far in search of their own territory.

Despite their predominantly solitary lifestyle, tigers relate to each other better than other felines. Adults, both males and females, share prey with other predators. There have been recorded cases of adult males allowing females and cubs to eat their prey before they themselves were satisfied - by comparison, this very rarely happens with lions. In disputes over territory between males, most conflicts are limited to threatening behavior, as a result of which the loser recognizes the dominance of the winner by rolling over on his back and showing his belly. Fights between males occur mainly over a female in heat, and often end in the death of one of the males.

Behavior

Representatives of the cat family cannot be classified as nocturnal or diurnal animals - they can be active at any time of the day. But tigers still prefer to hunt in the morning, evening or night, and rest during the day.

Usually animals move in large steps, but they can also develop greater speed, especially in the process of chasing prey. Tigers love water and have proven themselves to be excellent swimmers, but they do not climb trees. A small exception is tiger cubs under 2 years old and weighing up to 60 kg.

Tiger in the water

For subspecies living in hot countries, swimming is a necessary activity that allows them to cool down. At the same time, predators are not afraid of low temperatures. They molt in spring and autumn.

Tigers rarely make any sounds except during the breeding season, during hunting, or in case of aggression. The animal has developed a habit of tracking down prey, moving along their tracks and trails.

It is extremely important for a tiger to mark its territory and protect it from strangers. Predators mark territories with an individual scent and this is the main method of communication between individuals.

Males occupy large territories - about 60-100 km2, and females occupy smaller territories - about 20 km2. Otherwise, the occupied area is determined by the habitat, the amount of food and the number of females (relative to males). Male tigers allow females (up to 4) into their territory, where each of them occupies its own area.

Animals move within their zone regularly along the same route, simultaneously marking the territory. They also provide several places for rest - a kind of den.

If another male violates the occupied territory, you can expect a serious fight, since this issue is extremely serious for tigers. Even walking through the designated area is unacceptable. Tigresses are not aggressive in this regard and often share their prey with other females.

Tiger fight

Felines do not hunt together. They single-handedly ambush prey in the winter or quietly sneak up on it (in the summer). When the distance between the predator and its target is reduced as much as possible, the tiger attacks sharply. He is able to jump 10 m in length and 5 m in height.

If the animal managed to escape, pursuit is possible, but not further than 150 m at high speed. The tiger can carry caught prey weighing up to 100 kg in its teeth. It will drag a larger animal along the ground.

Interesting fact : tigers do not know how to hunt from birth. In order for the predator to survive and provide itself with food, the mother tigress must teach her offspring hunting techniques.

Where do tigers live?

Historically, tigers lived throughout Asia - from Transcaucasia and eastern Turkey to the shores of the Sea of ​​Japan, throughout South and Southeast Asia to the Indonesian islands of Java, Sumatra, and Bali. Currently, tigers occupy less than 6% of their former habitat compared to the beginning of the 20th century. The animals were extirpated from Western and Central Asia, from the islands of Java and Bali, as well as from much of Southeast Asia, South Asia and China. Now tigers live on the Hindustan Peninsula, Southeast Asia, Sumatra and the Russian Far East.

Today you can find a tiger in the wild only in the following 15 countries:

• Laos
• Bangladesh
• Myanmar
• Russia
• India
• Iran
• Butane
• Cambodia
• Indonesia
• China
• Malaysia
• Pakistan
• Thailand
• Nepal
• Vietnam

At the same time, in China and Myanmar, the tiger population consists only of immigrant individuals from neighboring countries. It is possible that tigers also survived on the territory of the DPRK, however, due to the country’s limited contacts with the outside world, there is no confirmed data.

Tigers prefer forests as their favorite habitat, and thrive in places with a lot of prey - deer and bovids (wild sheep). Moreover, tigers can inhabit any type of forest - mangrove swamps, evergreen and tropical rainforests, mixed and coniferous forests in the taiga, wooded mountain slopes and plains. In the Himalayas, predators live at altitudes of up to 3,600 meters above sea level. Unlike most felines, tigers are excellent swimmers, so they often live on the banks of rivers and other bodies of water.

Natural habitats

Not so long ago, tigers were widespread throughout the Asian continent.

What is characteristic of our time is that these predators are preserved only in 16 countries of the world:

• In Laos.
• In Bangladesh.
• In the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
• In Bhutan.
• In Cambodia.
• In the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
• In Russia.
• In the Republic of India.
• In the Islamic Republic of Iran.
• In the Republic of Indonesia.
• In China.
• In Malaysia.
• In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
• In Thailand.
• In the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

As a rule, the natural habitats of tigers are the northern regions of the taiga, areas characterized as semi-deserts, as well as forest areas, dry savannas and humid tropics.

Important point! Most wild cats are afraid of water, so they try to avoid various bodies of water, regardless of their depth. Tigers are predators who swim well and enjoy swimming in it. This is how they escape from insects and heat.

In order to hunt effectively and reproduce, tigers prefer steep cliffs with numerous niches and hidden caves. They also feel great in reed and reed thickets located near water bodies.

What do tigers eat?

Tigers prefer to hunt large ungulates weighing from 60 to 250 kg. Favorite prey is Indian sambar (a large deer in India), wapiti (Manchurian red deer), barasinga (another species of deer in India), and wild boar.

Tigers are able to successfully hunt very large animals, for example, gaurs - wild bulls weighing up to 2,000 kg. Successful cases of the predator hunting Indian rhinoceroses and elephants have been recorded, but tigers more often target baby elephants and rhinoceroses than adults.

On occasion, predators also eat small game - monkeys, peacocks, hares, porcupines, birds and fish. Tigers also hunt other predators - wolves, bears, leopards, pythons and crocodiles. Close to people, animals eat livestock - sheep, horses, cows, donkeys.

In captivity, predators eat about 3-4 kg of meat per day. In the wild, an adult animal can go without food for up to 2 weeks, and eats up to 35 kg of meat at a time.

What does it eat?

The diet of tigers mainly consists of ungulates: Bengal tigers hunt sambar, axis, wild boar and nilgai; Amur tigers prey on red and sika deer, wild boar, roe deer and musk deer; Sumatran tigers - sambar, wild boars and black-backed tapirs. Tigers' prey also includes large herbivores, such as Indian buffaloes, gaurs and elk. Their diet includes monkey, pheasant, hare, reptiles and fish. Sometimes tigers also hunt domestic animals: dogs, cows, horses and donkeys. Plant foods, nuts, grass and fruits can be enjoyed in the summer.

Tiger eats prey

Adequate nutrition for a tiger is 50-70 ungulates per year. At one time, a meal is 30-40 kg of meat. The tiger tolerates the lack of food relatively easily due to the presence of a subcutaneous layer of fat about 5 cm thick.

How does a tiger hunt?

It was previously assumed that tigers hunt mainly at night, but CCTV cameras in the wild have recorded that, far from people, the predators hunt mainly during the day. Like other wild cats, tigers ambush their prey. With a sudden leap, they knock the victim off his feet, taking advantage of his own weight, and grab his throat in a chokehold.

Despite their large size, tigers are capable of reaching speeds of up to 65 km/h, but only for a short time. The tiger is capable of covering up to 10 meters in one jump, although much more often it jumps to a distance of no more than 5 meters in length. Therefore, the predator needs to sneak up to the prey at a fairly close distance. If the prey senses an ambush, tigers do not pursue the prey and go off in search of the next prey. On average, approximately 10% of attempts are successful.

When hunting large animals, the predator grabs the prey by the throat, trying to choke it and at the same time throw it to the ground. It is this tactic that allows the tiger to successfully hunt animals 6 times its own weight - wild bulls, bison, buffalo. No large predator hunts prey so much larger than itself alone. However, when hunting large animals, tigers usually choose either cubs and young animals or old and sick individuals as prey. An open battle with an adult healthy buffalo or bison can end in the death of the tiger from blows from sharp horns and hooves.

When hunting small prey, such as hares or monkeys, a predator usually only needs one bite to break the victim's neck or sever an artery. A tiger is capable of killing a fairly large animal, such as livestock or a sloth bear, with one blow of its paw. After a successful hunt, the animal drags the victim into the thicket to calmly eat the prey. Tigers are very strong physically, and are able to drag the carcass of a buffalo or bull weighing more than a ton to a distance of 10-12 meters. They can run a long distance with prey weighing 100 kg, throwing it behind their back, or holding it in their teeth.

Facts 21-25

21. Tigers do not know how to purr to express delight and joy; they squint their eyes or close them. This is because losing their vision makes them defenseless, which is why tigers, like many other cats, purposefully do this when they feel comfortable and safe.

22. Tigers can run at a maximum speed of 60 km/h.

23. Tigers can jump 6 meters long and 5 meters high. Their muscular legs are so strong that they can stand on them even when they die.

24. The hunt of only one out of ten tigers is successful, so many tigers go without food for several days until a triumphant hunt occurs, as a result of which they can immediately gain 30 kg.

25. Although tigers can easily go without food for several days, they become hungry much more quickly due to their enormous size. A tiger will starve to death after 2-3 weeks without food, while a human can live up to 40 days without food.

Types of tigers

For a long time, 9 subspecies of the animal were distinguished, based on differences in size, color and habitat. In 2015 - 2022, as a result of genetic and morphological studies, only 2 breeds of tigers were identified, and the previous 9 subspecies were reclassified between them. Not all scientists agree with this; some argue that the previous 9 subspecies are also genetically based.

Currently, the following subspecies of tigers have been identified:

• Panthera tigris tigris
  . Includes all tiger species in mainland Asia. According to the old classification, it includes the following breeds of tigers: Bengal, Caspian, Amur (Far Eastern), South China, Malaysian tigers.
• Panthera tigris sondaica
  . This subspecies includes animals living on the Indonesian islands - Java, Sumatra, Bali. According to the old classification, this includes the Bali, Sumatran and Javan tigers.

The sad story of the destruction of tigers

Of the eight recognized tiger subspecies, the three smallest and most isolated are already extinct. The first to disappear from our planet was the Bali tiger (the last reliable report of the sighting of the Bali tiger dates back to 1939); followed by the Turanian and Javan tigers, which were last seen in 1968 and 1979, respectively. Now the South China tigers are on the verge of extinction. Tigers of other subspecies also face a serious threat of extinction from the face of the Earth.

There are three main threats to living tigers today: direct poaching, habitat destruction, and depletion of the food supply. Enormous damage to predator populations is caused by the growing demand for tiger bones, caused by the needs of the market for traditional oriental medicine, and the hunting of tigers for their skins, which attracts lovers of hunting trophies. Efforts to curb illegal trade have yielded positive results, but the scale remains significant.

Tiger habitats are being degraded by human activity and are being fragmented due to the growth of the human population. When tiger populations are torn into separate fragments within their former range, the ego condemns the animals to isolation and reduction in numbers, which ultimately brings them close to the risk of extinction from the wild.

But even if the tigers’ habitats are reliably protected, the predators need an abundant food supply. The decline in the number of ungulates has already left many areas of Asia without tigers, which in all other respects are quite suitable for these predators. Strengthening control over the shooting of ungulates in such areas, coupled with a ban on all hunting in protected areas, will undoubtedly benefit both people and tigers.

Ultimately, tigers can only survive if local people become interested in their conservation and protection. People living in various parts of the tiger's range perceive it as an inevitable but necessary component of the environment.

Reproduction and young

Tigers breed all year round; they do not have a specific mating season. Like many other felines, predators mate more often in winter and give birth to cubs in the spring from March to June, in order to be able to feed the kittens in more favorable summer conditions. Females' estrus lasts only 3-6 days. During this period, the female attracts the male with a roar and scent marks. When a male smells a female in heat, a specific expression appears on his face - flehmen. This is a grin, something like a grimace of anticipation - a phenomenon common among mammals and manifested among tigers. If several males live near a female's site, the males will fight for the female, sometimes with fatal results.

Puberty in males occurs quite late, at 4-5 years. Females give birth for the first time at the age of 3-4 years, then once every 2-3 years. For childbirth, females choose secluded places - in tall grass, bushes, caves or rocky depressions. A tigress can occupy the same den for several years. Pregnancy lasts from 93 to 114 days, with an average of approximately 103-105 days. Males usually do not participate in raising the young. As a rule, 2-3 kittens are born in a litter, rarely one or 5-6 cubs.

The cubs are born blind, weighing from 800 to 1,600 grams each. The eyes open on days 8-14, and baby teeth erupt after about 2 weeks. Kittens begin to eat meat at 2 months. The mother continues to feed them breast milk until 5-6 months. From this time on, the cubs go hunting with their mother. Grown-up tiger cubs begin to hunt independently at 11 months and become independent at 18-20 months. After reaching 2-2.5 years, the young are completely separated from the mother and go to their own territory.

On average, only half of a litter of tiger cubs survives to the age of 2 years. Strange stray males can kill other people's cubs out of a sense of competition, since if the kittens die, the female can become pregnant again within six months. Among other predators, few dare to attack the cubs for fear of an angry tigress. Except for hunters and outside males, cubs often die of hunger or freeze.

Hearing is the most acute of all the tiger's senses.

Hearing is mainly used for hunting. A tiger's ears are capable of rotating like a radar dish to detect the sources of various sounds, such as high-frequency sounds produced by prey in dense forest undergrowth.

Photo: Philippe Rivier

Cats are generally more sensitive to high-pitched sounds than humans. They can hear sounds up to 60 kHz, whereas the upper hearing range of humans is around 20 kHz. Tigers' hearing is so acute that they are able to detect infrasound. They use infrasound to communicate over long distances or through dense forest vegetation.

Natural enemies and competitors of tigers

Tigers often fight with competitors and, on occasion, take prey from other predators - red wolves, leopards, hyenas, wolves, bears, pythons and crocodiles. They can also purposefully hunt competitors, including small predators - lynx, fox and badgers. Crocodiles, bears and wolf packs are worthy opponents for tigers. Fights with them can result in the death of the animal.

Leopards successfully coexist with tigers in the same territory, since predators hunt prey of different sizes. Tigers prefer to hunt animals weighing from 176 kg, leopards choose smaller targets, from 30 to 175 kg. Tigers usually live deep in the forest; wolves and leopards have to retreat to the outskirts of the forest to avoid conflict. The remains of tigers' prey are often picked up by Asian jackals, but no direct conflicts arise between the animals.

Made to kill. Structure and functions

The structure of all representatives of the cat family ideally corresponds to their hunting specialization. They are fluent in the art of covert pursuit, ambush and killing the victim. Different types of cats differ from each other mainly in coat color and size. Tigers, like other “big cats,” mainly hunt prey that is significantly larger than them; They are characterized by short front legs with well-developed muscles and long, sharp, retractable claws, with which they can grab and hold their prey. The skull is shortened, which enhances the leverage effect when working with powerful jaws. Tigers usually kill animals with a crushing bite to the back of the neck, although in some cases they strangle their prey by placing a death grip on its throat.

In order for the hunt to end in success, the tiger must first crawl as close to the prey as possible; then he straightens up to his full height and rushes to the attack, covering the remaining distance with several powerful leaps. Typically, a tiger attacks from behind, trying to grab onto the shoulder, neck or back of its prey. One in ten or even twenty attacks is successful.

These cats are unusually impressive in appearance: their orange-red and white fur is decorated with black stripes; The uniqueness of the color lies in the fact that each tiger can be identified by its unique arrangement of stripes. White tigers, which are quite widely represented in zoos (the stripes on their fur are most often chocolate-colored, so they cannot be considered full albinos), are descended from Mohan, a male Bengal tiger captured by the Maharajah of the Rewa district in India (now the state of Madhya Pradesh). Although the colors of tigers vary somewhat in different parts of their range (representatives of populations living in the rain forests of Southeast Asia are darker), the vertical arrangement of stripes, characteristic of all subspecies, provides these cats with excellent camouflage.

Who is stronger than the tiger? Lion, leopard, bear, panther?

There are few predators stronger than the tiger. Lions and tigers do not interact in the wild, but in ancient Rome and in 20th-century zoos, people staged fights between the two predators on numerous occasions. In 2/3 of cases the lions win. There is an explanation for this. Although lions are inferior to tigers in size, lions benefit from experience. In prides, lions are accustomed to fighting for leadership with their relatives, while tigers, on the contrary, lead a solitary lifestyle and rarely fight with their brothers. Another important factor in favor of a lion's victory is the mane. The presence of a powerful mane protects the lion's neck from tiger bites. A tiger cannot grab a lion by the neck and strangle the enemy, but strangulation is the tiger’s main strategy against large opponents.

In a fight between a tiger and a leopard, the tiger will definitely win. Tigers are far superior to leopards in size and strength. The habitats of predators in nature often overlap. Tigers are the dominant predator, so leopards living in their territory are forced to adapt, that is, bypass the tigers and hunt smaller prey. Perhaps jaguars, larger relatives of the leopard from the Panther genus, would have a better chance against a tiger, but this cannot be tested in practice. In nature, these species do not overlap, because jaguars live in the New World, and tigers live exclusively in Asia.

Fights between tigers and bears happen quite often in nature. Predators share the prey, plus tigers generally have the habit of hunting, among other things, predators of competitors. A tiger doesn’t have much of a chance against a large, seasoned bear; a predator’s chances are much better against young or old individuals. On average, a bear is larger than a tiger in size, has a more powerful bite, and is more resilient in a long fight, but is inferior to a tiger in speed. Tigers usually attack first, because bears are slow and less aggressive. According to statistics, in approximately half of the cases the conflict ends in the death of the bear. About a quarter of fights end in the death of the tiger, and in another quarter of cases the big cat simply runs away from the battlefield.

Miacoids are the most ancient ancestors of tigers

Many scientists believe that the first mammals appeared about 208 million years ago, but their true heyday began about 65 million years ago, after the dinosaurs went extinct.

Photo: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The first carnivorous predators emerged from a group of animals known as myacoids about 60-80 million years ago. About the size of a domestic cat, ranging from 1 to 3 kg, myacoids were arboreal (tree-dwelling) and had developed, sharp cutting teeth. Carnivores split into two groups, Feliformia and Caniformia, about 40 million years ago. The Feliformia group was predominantly feline in nature, encompassing cats, hyenas, civets and mongooses. The Caniformia group was more bearish and included bears, raccoons, weasels, dogs, skunks, badgers, sea lions, seals and walruses.

Thirty million years ago, the oldest cat, Proailurus, appeared in the fossil record. This predator was native to the area now known as France. According to scientists, the animal weighed about 11.5 kg and had a length of about 75 cm. Proailurus was arboreal and had eight more teeth than modern cats.

Twenty million years ago, a group of cats called Pseudaelurines appeared in the fossil record and are believed by experts to be the direct ancestors of all modern cat species (37 species).

Photo: www.dinoanimals.com

About 1.6 million years ago, the big cat genus Smilodon, known as the saber-toothed cat, appeared. It was widespread throughout North and South America. Smilodon had long, curved upper fangs that resembled sabers. Saber-toothed cats became extinct about 10,000 years ago.

Fossil evidence and genetic information have determined that the lion, leopard and jaguar have more in common with each other than with the tiger. Thus, it is believed that the tiger diverged from the common ancestor of panthers earlier than other representatives of its genus.

Population and conservation of the species

The tiger population has already suffered catastrophic losses. Over the past 100 years, the number of animals in the wild has decreased by 25 times from 100 to 4 thousand individuals. Most of the predators, about 3,000, are found in India, followed by Bangladesh (up to 500), Russia (about 430), Indonesia (about 370), and Malaysia (about 300). In Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, the count goes down to units.

India currently makes the greatest contribution to the conservation of the species. Since 2011, thanks to the government program, the number of tigers in India has almost doubled, from 1.4 to 2.9 thousand. The support program cost more than $153 million and was launched in 2007. The conservation program has relocated more than 200,000 people to reduce human interaction with animals and created 8 tiger reserves.

Tigers are listed in the International Red Book as an endangered species. Since 1947, there has been a complete ban on hunting animals, and since 1955, the capture of tiger cubs has been prohibited. The main threats to the population remain - reduction and fragmentation of the natural habitat, poaching of the animal for its skin, as well as the demand for animal body parts in Chinese medicine.

Did you know?

• The tiger's tail is about one meter long. A predator is relaxed if its tail hangs freely. Aggression is manifested by quickly moving the tail from side to side or holding it low with periodic intense twitching.
• The tiger's tongue is covered with numerous small, sharp, backward-facing projections. These papillae give the tongue a rough, grinding texture and are designed to help the animal separate feathers, fur and meat from its prey.
• Tigers are able to taste salty, bitter and sour tastes and, to a lesser extent, sweet. They have about 500 taste buds, compared to 9,000 in humans.
• The roar of a tiger can be heard at a distance of over 3 km.
• The smelling glands between the tiger's toes leave a unique scent that allows the cub to follow in its mother's footsteps.
• Tigers have 38 chromosomes.
• Maltese tigers are a variety of tigers resulting from inbreeding. Maltese tigers have white fur with gray undertones, so their fur appears blue from a distance.

Tigers in Russia

In Russia in the 1940s, animals were on the verge of extinction. At that time, no more than 40 Far Eastern tigers remained in all of Siberia. Hunting for the animal has been prohibited by international agreement since 1947. The fight against poachers and the organization of nature reserves have borne fruit, and the population in the USSR has reached several hundred individuals. In the 1990s, poaching became a problem again after the collapse of the country and the collapse of the economy.

In 2005, there were about 360 tigers in the country; currently, according to various estimates, from 430 to 540 tigers live in Russia. In Russia, the authorities managed to achieve success, including through work with the local population. Hunters were convinced that tigers were better than wolves because they caused less damage to domestic animals and wild ungulates.

Currently, the Amur tiger is listed in the Red Book of Russia as a rare subspecies, preserved only on the territory of the Russian Federation. There are several reserves in Russia where Amur tigers live:

• Sikhote-Alin State Reserve
• Lazovsky
• Cedar Pad
• Ussuri Nature Reserve

Since 2000, “Tiger Day in the Far East” has been held annually in Vladivostok. Since 2008, the Russian Academy of Sciences has been implementing a program to study the Ussuri tiger. In 2010, an international Tiger Summit was held in St. Petersburg, during which the problem was discussed at the level of governments of 13 countries where the animals live.

In 2010, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment approved the Far Eastern Tiger Conservation Strategy. In 2013, the Russian Geographical Society, on the initiative of the president, created a special fund “to preserve and increase the number of animals in Russia.

Amur or Ussuri tiger

flickr/Tambako the Jaguar

The largest subspecies of predatory cats. The length of an adult male Ussuri tiger (lat. Panthera tigris altaica) can reach 280 cm, and weight – 320 kg. Moreover, the length of the tail alone is approximately one meter. It is not surprising that these tigers have a great need for food and are capable of eating up to 25 kg at a time. meat. Thus, in order for the Amur tiger to always be full of strength, it must consume at least 9 kg per day. meat. However, it is known that in the absence of prey, a tiger can survive on a starvation diet for a week.

Tiger and man

Tigers have been a valuable trophy for hunters since ancient times; Alexander the Great hunted them. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, tiger hunting was a popular sport in colonial India. Some British aristocrats and maharajas boasted of dozens and even hundreds of killed animals.

In China, animal body parts remain in demand on the black market, despite a complete official ban on such trade since 1993. The population of wild animals in China itself was almost completely exterminated by the 1970s, so supplies are now coming from other regions where tigers are still remained - from Siberia, India, Sumatra, Malaysia. In China itself, between 5,000 and 10,000 animals are kept on underground farms that breed animals for the black market.

Tigers in the wild, who have no previous experience with humans, actively avoid people and do not attack without reason. Yet tigers kill more people than any other wild animal. Some attacks on people are provoked by humans themselves - predators attack hunters when cornered or wounded, females with cubs attack to protect kittens.

Some tigers become cannibals and deliberately hunt people. These are usually old or sick animals that, due to their physical condition, are no longer able to hunt their usual prey. Another common reason for attacks is a reduction in the food supply in nature. The problem of man-eating tigers is still relevant today, particularly in India and Bangladesh. The only effective solution to prevent an attack is to wear a mask with a face painted on the back of your head. Since predators usually attack people from behind, a mask painted on the back of the head to mimic a face greatly reduces the likelihood of an attack.

A tiger's hind legs are longer than its front legs

This physiological feature allows predators to jump forward at a distance of up to 10 meters. The bones of a tiger's front paws are strong and dense enough to support the large muscles needed to bring down large prey.

The bones in each paw are tightly connected by ligaments, which allows the animal to soften the landing after jumping. Tigers have large, soft paws that help them silently stalk prey in the Asian jungle.

Indochinese tiger or Corbet's tiger

flickr/m3nt4t

Distributed in the southernmost regions of China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. There are approximately 900 individuals of this subspecies. The population of these tigers (lat. Panthera tigris corbetti) has been poorly studied, since tigers usually live in the inaccessible forests of Indochina.