Tigers: World's Favorite Animal

Tigers is the national animal of India. Today I will share some facts about these interesting animal.

There are some living sub species of tiger family. These are Siberian Tiger, Bengal/Indian Tiger, South China Tiger, Malayan Tiger, Indo-Chinese Tiger, Sumatran tiger. They are heaviest among all the members in the cat family. A mature male can weight up to 300kgs with a total length of 3.3 meter.

They have a very powerful forelimb and a very large head. The color of the eyes are yellow. Although white tigers are having the blue eyes. A tiger’s night vision is 6 times higher than that of human’s.

Tigers are carnivores. Their favorite meal includes wild pigs, cattle, deer etc. they can eat up to 18 kgs of meat at a time. Attack on human are rare but in case of frequent contacts some attacks have been reported. Unlike a lion, the tiger sometimes treat other predators also as prey.

The canine teeth of a tiger can reach up to 4 inch in length.

They hunt alone. They prefer bushy areas which helps in camouflage. They are ambush predator.

Unlike other members of the cat family tiger is a very good swimmer. During extreme heat in the day they have seen cooling off in the pools. They have seen dragging their prey in water for quite a distance.

A tiger can have over 100 stripes in their coat and like human fingerprints the pattern is unique for every tiger.

They are highly territorial. A male tiger’s territory can be 5 times bigger than the female tiger(tigress). The territory for a male tiger can reach up to an area of 100 square km. They mark their territory by spraying urine and anal secretions. They solve territorial disputes through intimidation rather than outright aggression.

They can reach a speed up to 65 kph and a maximum leap distance of 10 meters.

A tiger can roar both for aggressive or non aggressive reasons.

The mating season is usually between November to April. Baby tigers are called cubs and they are usually born in litters of 2 or 3. The cubs at their birth are blind and helpless and need care. After 6 to 14 days they open their eyes. Male tigers do not participate in rearing of cubs.

Tiger and lions can interbreed. The result is called ligers(breed between male Lion and tigress) and tigons(breed between male tiger and lioness).

In a poll conducted by Animal planet, Tigers have been voted the world’s favorite animal among people.

According IUCN red list the conservation status of Tigers are Endangered to Critically Endangered. Once they are found widely across Asia have lost most of their habitat. They face the threat from loss of habitat, poaching and lack of prey.

Is tiger your favorite animal. Share your thoughts.

Cheetah: The Speedstar

Cheetahs have been in interest for all the people who love associating themselves with speed. This article will put some lights on this exciting cat species. 

Cheetahs should not be mistaken with Leopards. They possess tear lines, which run from corner of its eye till their mouth are absent in Leopards. Also unlike Leopards they do not have rosette like spots. The body frame of cheetah is also thinner than a Leopard.

The word “Cheetah” is derived from Sanskrit word of chitrakayah meaning having variety of colors.

Scientific name of cheetah is Acinonyx jubatu. They are the sole member of their genus(Acinonyx). The rest of the species have become extinct.

The cheetah originated over 4 million years ago. That’s long before any of the other big cats of today.

An adult cheetah can weigh up to 20 to 70 kg while its length varies from 110 to 150cm. Though males tend to be little larger than the females and have slightly larger head, it is very difficult to distinguish between males and females just by appearance alone.

Like all other cats cheetahs are also carnivorous. They eat mostly mammals like gazelles. Sometimes they hunt wildebeest or zebras when hunting in groups. 

Males tend to live in small groups of 2-3 individuals, usually brothers. They are extremely territorial and mark their territory by urinating on objects like dogs.

Unlike other cats or their male counterpart, female Cheetahs are solitary and do not establish territories. They always hunt alone(though sometimes cubs join their mother to learn hunting). 

Cheetahs can live up to 12 years in wild and 20 years in captive condition. Males reach maturity at the age of 1 year where as for female it is 20 to 22 months.

Cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world, reaching speeds of up to 113km/h. They can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in just 3 seconds.

The paws of a cheetah have semi retractile claws. It helps in better grip in high speed chase. The dewclaw is much shorter and straighter than other members of their cat family. Cheetah uses its tail as a rudder during  sharp turn in its chase to catch a prey. They are the only big cat that can turn in mid-air while sprinting. They possess large nostrils to allow increased oxygen intake during running. Enlarged heart and lungs to circulate efficient oxygen supply.

Running on high speed puts much strain on their bodies. While sprinting the body temperature elevates very quickly. So if they fail to catch their prey quickly they have to gave up the chase.

Unlike other cats, Cheetahs are born with their characteristic spots. They are native to Africa and Asia.

Cheetah can not roar like other cats, however they do have a range of other meaningful vocalizations such as purring, growling and a variety of contact calls which resemble bird-like chirping sounds.

A cheetah has 50% chance of loosing its kill to other predators. That is why they eat immediately after killing its prey. They usually avoid fighting with other carnivores and surrender its kill even to a single hyena.

Cheetahs are caring, affectionate and dedicated mothers. They spend a long time caring for their cubs and teaching them essential survival skills like hunting. Cubs typically stay with their mothers for one and a half to two years.

In ancient time(3000 BC) cheetahs have been tamed by human. They have been used as pets and trained for hunting purposes. This trend initiated in ancient Egypt and then subsequently followed to Persia and India.

Cheetahs are included in the list of vulnerable species by IUCN. Cheetah cubs have high mortality rates(90% of their cubs died in the early weeks of their rearing). Low genetic diversity, predation by other carnivores, birth defects along with loss of habitat and poaching are the cause for their low counts.

Hope this reading has been enjoyable for you. A lot of animal still to come. So keep visiting.