| About Royal Bengal Tiger
Royal Bengal Tiger
A legend from Nagaland relates that the mother of the first spirit, the first
Tiger and the first man came out of the earth through a pangolin's den. Man
and Tiger are seen as brothers, one in human shape and the other striped. One
stayed at home while the other went to live in the forest, but one day they
met in the forest and were forced to fight. The man tricked the Tiger and killed
it with a poisened dart. The Tiger's body floated downstream, where it was caught
in reeds. The God Dingu - Aneni saw that the bones had come from a human womb
and sat on them for ten years, as a result hundreds of Tigers were born.
The legend is typical of the belief that the Tiger and Man are closely connected,
being born of the same mother. The concept of the Tigerness of man and the humanness
of the Tiger recurs again and again throughout the vast tracts of Land where
the tiger has roamed.
Appearance and Physical Characteristics
Though slim and elega
tigers are immensely powerful. Their front legs and paws are tremendously strong:
they can kill young elephants and rhino and drag prey weighing 200 kg. (5001
bs.) Or more. Tigers walk on the fore pads of their feet, which gives their
stride suppleness and elasticity. They have flexible forelegs that can twist
inwards, allowing them to grasp prey. Their claws remain retracted until they
are needed in the final moments of attack.
Sight and Smell
Tigers are famed for their glowing amber eyes. Unlike most other cats, they
have round pupils. Tigers have acute eyesight and the cells in their eyes are
sensitive to color. They can perceive depth because their eyes face forwards,
thus allowing direction and distance to be judged with extreme accuracy. Tigers,
like all cats, have a special adaptation that gives them excellent night vision:
a membrane at the back of the eye reflects light through the light sensitive
cells of the retina. This effectively doubles the intensity of dim light. The
same principal is used in the "cats' eyes" on our roads.
Scent forms the basis for territorial behavior. Tigers keep track of each other's
movements by scent marking, which helps them to avoid conflict. To make the
best use of information contained in a scent mark, the tiger has to hang out
its tongue and draw back the lips, causing the eyes to close. This is called
the flehmen response and it allows the tiger to pass the scent through two small
holes in the upper palate behind the incisors in effect the tiger can "test"
he scent. To human eyes, the expression looks like a grimace of disgust.
inhabit many types of forests, from the mangrove swamps of Bangladesh to the
coniferous forests of the Russian Far East. Dense vegetation, plenty of pre
and minimum human interference are all requirements of good tiger habitat, as
are pools for drinking and bathing. Tigers of the warmer climes love water and
may even sleep with part of their body submerged. They are adept swimmers. Young
tigers are agile enough to climb into trees but adults are generally too heavy.
However, an angry tiger in Siberia was reported to have limbed into a tree in
an attempt to swat the helicopter that was following it
Tigers can kill prey that exceeds their own weight. A tiger can eat over 30
kgs (66lvbs ) of meat in a single night, though a large kill ma be needed only
once or twice a week. In the meantime, snacks such a peacocks, crabs turtles,
fish, lizards, small birds or even locusts will suffice. Tigers are not exclusively
carnivorous and will sometimes eat jungle fruits. Their stomachs often contain
earth, and his is probably ingested to aid digestion.
In India, hog deer, chital (spotted deer), barking deer, sambar, nilgai and
wild boar are the favorite prey, though tigers will also kill jungle ox and
even young elephants and rhino of up to 450 kgs (1000 lbs ) in weight. Tigers
will seek to porcupines, even though these prickly creatures have a nasty habit
of backing into a pursuer in order to drive in their spines. Injuries form porcupines
may fester and can even cause the death of a tiger.
tend to hunt between dusk and dawn. They are less active during the day and
may lie satiated in the shade or in a pool near the remains of a kill. Tigers
often cover an unfinished meal with soil and leaves and return to it later.
Even so, scavengers are quick to take advantage, though they risk annoying the
owner of the kill. A tiger was photographed pouncing on a vulture in sheer exasperation
and an irritable tiger will even chase away crows.
Sight and sound, rather than scent, are used to locate prey. Tigers are too
large and too heavy to run for long distances and therefore must patiently stalk
their prey until they are close enough to make a final lunge for the neck. Effective
camouflage is essential and in patches of sunshine and shade a motionless tiger
is practically invisible. Despite being one of the most feared of the world's
predators, tigers are often unsuccessful in catching their prey. Prey species
have acute hearing and many run faster than a tiger. Some have alarm calls that
warn all the animals in the vicinity to be wary. If the tiger fails in a hunting
attempt it must move to another area or wait until the forest becomes calm again.
is interesting to compare this technique with those used in more open habitats
where there is not enough cover to conceal a stalking predator. In the African
Savannahs, for example, cheetahs have developed unsurpassed speed and prides
of lions have learnt to hunt cooperatively. The remains of a kill are also more
difficult to conceal, and any left uneaten will be quickly finished off by scavengers.
Cooperative hunters therefore share the kill amongst themselves, so that nothing
is wasted on those animals who are looking for a free lunch. The development
of different hunting strategies to suit habitat types is part of a process known
Tiger behavior is flexible and the choice of prey, as well as the technique
for catching in, will be influenced by how plentiful the prey is and how easily
it is caught. Tigers in areas where the vegetation is less dense are more likely
to hunt large prey cooperatively and to share their kill. This was the case
in Ranthambore National Park during the 1980s. Up to nine tigers were seen lying
together in a social group, just like a pride of lions. Tiger were observed
sharing their prey not only with their young, but also with other adults. Rather
than a strict hierarchy, it seems that the titer that makes the kill always
gets the first meal, even if the other tigers present are larger.
Royal Bengal Tiger , Tour Booking Form