The nickname The King of the Jungle is often attached to lions, big cats originating from Africa and India. However, this carnivore is not the largest cat species in the world, because there are other cat species that are much bigger!
The animal is none other than a tiger! The True King of the Forest! The body size of a male tiger from head to tail can reach 2.5 to 3.9 m. They weigh between 90 to 300 kg.
The tigress is much smaller than the male tiger. However, their average body size can be larger than a male lion. The body length of the tigress is between 2 and 2.75 m, and the weight is around 65 to 167 kg.
A tiger, whether male or female, usually has a tail length of between 0.6 to 1.1 m. Their body height is between 80 and 110 cm.
Because it's not surprising that this animal named Latin panthera tigris is listed as the biggest cat in the world!
The Siberian tiger and the Bengal tiger are the two largest tiger subspecies today. This tiger is tall and can weigh up to 300 kg.
The tiger habitat is spread across the forest area of the Asian continent to Transcaucasia, namely the border area between West Asia and Eastern Europe. But unfortunately, these big cats have become extinct from Southwest Asia and Central Asia.
A small portion of the tiger population still survives in several countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Russia. However, there are very few of them, and they are in danger of extinction.
The narrowing of the forest area which is the habitat of tigers has also accelerated their extinction. It is estimated that there are only a few thousand tigers that are still alive, and are scattered in various countries, such as India, Russia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Bhutan, Malaysia, China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The tiger is a type of big cat that has a long range. When they start to mature, they will spread as far as tens of kilometers from their birthplace.
Unlike lions who like to hunt in groups, tigers prefer to hunt alone. Even so, sometimes a tiger does not mind sharing its prey with other tigers. And they will eat it together.
Tigers have strong and muscular bodies, large heads and small ears. They have the longest fangs among all cat species that are still alive today.
There are three color variations of tiger fur. The most common is orange with black stripes, while the lower body is white.
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White Tiger |
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Albino Tiger |
The second type is the tiger with white fur with black stripes. While the third type has snow-white fur, almost without stripes.
The colors and striped motifs on tiger fur help them camouflage with their surroundings, especially when hunting for prey. Uniquely, tiger fur patterns will still appear on the skin even though their fur is shaved off.
Tigers are able to climb trees, although they rarely do. They are also great swimmers. Tigers can swim up to 7 km. Tigers also love water, they often take baths to cool off during the day.
Tigers are not the type of fast runner. Although tigers can run at speeds reaching 49 to 65 km/h. However, they can only do this for a short time.
Tigers can jump horizontally as far as 5 to 10 meters to pounce on their prey.
Tigers are also very strong, they are able to drag prey that is much larger than their bodies up to dozens of meters.
A tiger can eat up to 34 kg of meat at one time. After eating their fill, tigers can survive up to two weeks without eating.
Adult tigers usually like to live alone, and have their own territory. In fact, there is often a fight between two adult tigers in fighting over territory.
In addition to fighting over territory, male tigers also often fight over tigress. In fact, sometimes they fight until someone dies.
A tigress will experience a gestation period of between 93 and 114 days, with an average gestation period of between 103 and 105 days. Most tigresses only give birth to two or three cubs.
Cubs will stay with their mother until they are about two years old, before then going off to find their own hunting grounds.
The tiger is famous for its roar which is so loud and scary. Their roars can be heard up to 3 km away. A tiger will roar to signal its presence to other tigers.
They mark their territory with water urine, feces, or scratching claws on trees or the ground. This is not only done by male tigers, because tigresses also do the same thing.
Tigers prefer to prey on larger animals, such as buffalo, deer or wild boar. However, they also prey on small animals, such as rabbits, monkeys, porcupines, birds and fish.
As an apex predator, tigers sometimes also prey on fellow predators, such as leopards, dogs, snakes, bears and crocodiles.
In the wild a tiger can live up to 8 years old. Being in captivity, their age is much longer, reaching 26 years.