The Big Roar

The Big Roar


A loud roar is heard disturbing the silence of the forest. What can it be? The mighty Bengal tiger is searching his territory to find food – lunch or dinner perhaps!

The Bengal tiger is native to Southern Asia and is also found throughout India, except in the desert regions. At his shoulders, a full-grown tiger can be 3 feet in height. It has large canine teeth and very powerful jaws. Its paws are heavily padded with claws that can be extended or tucked back into the paw. Its coat is a reddish brown or bright tan color with narrow black, gray or brown stripes, generally in a vertical direction. Its fur changes to white on their tummy and is short and thick over the entire body. The stripes are different on each tiger. It has very long whiskers which allow it to test the width of a space. If the whiskers fit through the space, the whole body can follow.

The tiger’s appetite is mainly carnivorous meaning meat is its favorite food. This includes deer, wild pigs, young buffalo, young elephants and on occasion, cattle or any prey over 100 pounds. When it is hunting, it uses a slow silent stalk behind cover until it is close enough for the final charge. It is very patient when pursuing its prey. Only one hunt in 20 is successful. The tiger hunts at dusk and dawn as its stripes help it hide in the shadows of tall grasses. The killing bite is delivered to the nape of the neck as the animal is pinned down by the tiger’s powerful claws. A tiger can eat as much as eighty-eight pounds of meat in one feeding. Older or injured tigers may resort to killing cattle, eating fowl, fish, frogs, crocodiles or even humans. Its food source is most often determined by what runs across its pathway.

Male tigers may occupy a territory of up to 200 miles. The male tiger is usually solitary. You may see several in a group of 3 or 4 which is called a pride. This group most likely includes a mother and her cubs. Cubs weigh three pounds at birth and are striped. There are two to four cubs in a litter and the gestation period or waiting period until birth is 98 to 110 days. The cubs depend on their mother for food and protection for two years. The Bengal tiger has a life span of not more than fifteen years in the wild, but sixteen to eighteen years in a controlled environment.

Bengal tigers are an endangered species and its population has been reduced by ninety-five percent since the turn of the century. It is estimated that there are less than 3,000 Bengal tigers left in the wild. Man has hunted them for sport, skins and for use in medical products including medicines. The numbers of the Bengal tiger should be protected so that we can enjoy its beauty for many years to come. Nature is a beautiful thing to experience and the loss of the Bengal tiger would most certainly lessen the beauty of this earth.