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Siberian TigersThis
information page for Siberian
Tigers has been created to guide you into Tigerhomes Sanctuary's
Beautiful Animal Habitats. If we have your attention then we are
doing a good job! Info: Tigers are the biggest cats in the world. They live in steamy hot jungles as well as icy cold forest habitats. There are five different kinds or subspecies of tiger alive in the world today. You are ONE CLICK AWAY  >> Free Snapshots from your computer << These
tigers are called Siberian, South China, Indochinese, Bengal,
and Sumatran. Their Latin name is Panthera tigris. Tigers
are an endangered
species; only about 5,000 to 7,400 tigers are left in the wild. Three
tiger subspecies, the Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers have become
extinct in the past 70 years.
Habits: Unlike some big cats like lions, adult tigers like to live alone (except for mother tigers with cubs). This is partly because in the forest, a single tiger can sneak up and surprise its prey better than a group of tigers can. Siberian Tiger and Tigers Range & Habitat:The
size of a tiger's territory depends on the amount of food available,
and
usually ranges from about 10 to 30 square
miles (26-78 sq. km). Siberian tigers sometimes have really
big territories (as large as 120 square miles). Although
tigers usually live alone, tiger territories can overlap.
A male tiger's territory usually overlaps those of several
female tigers. Today only about 5,000–7,000 wild
tigers live across Asia. The past and present ranges of
the remaining
five tiger subspecies are illustrated. The northernmost
living tiger, the Amur or Siberian tiger, lives primarily
in southeastern
Russia. The South China tiger occurs only in southern China.
The range of the Indochinese tiger extends across most
of Southeast Asia. The Bengal tiger is found primarily
in India,
while the Sumatran tiger is restricted to the Indonesian
island of Sumatra. The Bali, Caspian, and Javan tigers
have become extinct in the past 70 years. Reproduction and Rearing: Female tigers reach maturity when they are about 3 years old, males a year or so later. In temperate climates, a tigress comes into estrus (heat) only seasonally; however in tropical climates, she may come into estrus throughout the year (unless she is pregnant, or is raising cubs). She signals her readiness with scent markings and locating roars. The brief act of copulation occurs continually for a five day period. Tigers are induced ovulators, and must be stimulated through frequent copulation in order to become pregnant. To help stimulate ovulation, the male tiger's penis has spines. Following mating, the gestation period for tigers is approximately103 days. The male tiger does not stay with the female after mating, and does not participate in raising the cubs. The average litter size of tigers is 2 or 3 cubs (the largest is 5). One usually dies at birth. Once a tigress has mated and given birth to cubs, she will not come into estrus again until her cubs are between one and a half and three years of age, with enough skills to begin life on their own. |
 See Siberian Tigers Live in their Natural Habitat Diet: Over much of the tiger's broad geographic range, wild pig,
wild cattle and several species of deer are its major prey.
All prey are forest or grassland ungulates that range in size
from 65 to 2,000 pounds (30-900 kg). Typically, wild tigers
gorge themselves on fresh kills, and can eat as much as 40
pounds (18 kg) of meat at one time. The tiger will not eat
again for several days.
Status: At the beginning of this century it is estimated that there were 100,000 wild tigers, today the number is less than 8,000. Simply put, tigers are disappearing in the wild. The main threats to tigers are poaching, habitat loss and population fragmentation. Conservation & Ecology: Across all of Asia, once vast forests have fallen for timber
or conversion to agriculture. Only small islands of forest
surrounded by a growing and relatively poor human population
are left. As forest space is reduced, the number of animals
left in the forest is also reduced, and tigers cannot find
the prey they need to survive. As a result, tigers begin to
eat the livestock of villagers who live near them. Sometimes
tigers even attack humans. People sometimes kill the tigers
in order to protect themselves and their livestock. As human
populations move farther into the forest, groups of tigers
become separated from each other by villages and farms. This
means that tigers in one area can no longer mate with tigers
in nearby areas. Instead, tigers must breed repeatedly with
the same small group of animals. Over time, this inbreeding
weakens the gene pool, and tigers are born with birth defects
and mutations. |
