The Bengal tiger is the most numerous of the tiger subspecies. There are about 2,100 Royal Bengal tigers in the wild today; including 1,411 in India, 200 in Bangladesh, 150 in Nepal and 100 in Bhutan. Royal Bengal Tigers have a reddish-orange coat with black vertical stripes; white underside, cheeks and eye areas. Broad muscular body; long sensitive whiskers; long legs with sharp, retractable claw; long tail.

During the process of breeding this mutant gene (for white tigers) must have spread among some tigers in the forests. Mating of two colored tigers, each having a mutant gene is likely to produce one white in four cubs. When a colored tiger without a mutant gene is mated with a white one, all offsprings are expected to be normal color only, indicating that the normal orange color is controlled by dominant gene and the white color by recessive gene. Mating of two white tigers always produces white offspring.

Tigers have a lifespan of 10-15 years in the wild, but can live longer than 20 years in captivity. Wild tigers (Panthera tigris)) are nocturnal animals and usually solitary, except for females with cubs. They are territorial and males have discrete territories overlapping those of several females.

Tiger cubs open their eyes in 7-11 days. Cubs stay with their mother and siblings until about the age of two, when thy move on to establish their own territories. During these two years, cubs learn hunting techniques from their mother. The prey is killed mostly by fatal throat bite causing suffocation, strangulation or severance of blood vessels. Small prey is killed by a nape bite resulting in dislocation of head from vertebral column.

Three Thousand Wild Tigers – News Watch

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com

Mon, 13 Jan 2014 22:28:47 GMT

Map of historic and current tiger habitat Most wild tigers now survive only in protected areas. The current challenge is how big cats and humans can share the landscape in ways that allow tigers safe passage between … Read more …