Panthera tigris is the biggest cat in the planet. It has a total body length that ranges from 10.0 to 26.0 ft. with weight up to 520 kg. The body contains a pattern of dark stripes with reddish-orange fur but the underpart is lighter in color.
Systematic Position of Panthera tigris
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Panthera
Species: Panthera tigris
It is a member of the Felidae family, and is native to much of eastern and southern Asia. The tiger is the largest of all wild cats. It is a muscular, compact, and powerful animal with a unique stripe pattern bred to blend in with tall grasses and shrubs in its native habitat.
It is a big sized and beautiful cat on the planet. Panthera tigris are dangerously close to extinction. We don’t know exactly how many are left in the wild.
The largest and most powerful of the felines, striped to blend into the undergrowth, eyes alert for prey. Wide nostrils and a strong jaw help it track and chew through gristly foods in the wild.
The snarling face, the sleek yet powerful body, the aggressive teeth and claws – the Panthera tigris is a fearsome cat that can reach speeds up to 60 mph. For almost a century this carnivore has been a focal point in the controversy over whether or not big cats should be allowed to roam free in a zoo. Now, officials from the Wildlife Conservation Society have developed a plan to breed this animal back from near-extinction.
Panthera tigris, the Bengal tiger is a tiger population in the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia. It is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1986 with no subspecies being identified and is protected under Schedule 1 of India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
The Bengal tiger is the national animal of India, Bangladesh, North Korea and Vietnam. A global conservation effort has ensured the survival of the subspecies in Nepal, Bhutan, and elsewhere.
In the Sundarban forests of eastern India, a great cat is fighting for survival. In the lonely marshes and mangrove thickets where it lives, the Sundarban tiger has been attacked by poachers and preyed upon by slavers. Long hunted for its skin and teeth, this rare species is now being squeezed from the wild as humans have begun to occupy its habitat. But a determined team of scientists is fighting to save it from extinction.
The tiger’s body is covered by tawny fur, which can be yellowish, orange, buff, grey or black. Little of the variability in this fundamental stripe pattern is due to genetic differences; it seems to be largely affected by environmental factors. The form and density of stripes are likely adaptations to concealment in long grasses and high brush. Their general lack of melanin (which protects skin and fur from ultraviolet light) makes them especially sensitive to sunlight, and characteristic vertical striping helps prevent their overheating.
This giant cat is the largest living feline on the planet. Sporting a reddish-orange coat with black spots, their time in the grasslands and marshes of central and southern India is spent mainly hunting for large ungulates like deer and wild buffalo.
This big cat is native to Asia, and has recently almost disappeared from its natural habitats through illegal poaching for international trade, habitat destruction, and conflict with human populations.
Panthera tigris, the world’s most fearsome predator, has a padded nose and padded feet to keep the animal from injury.
This Tiger is extremely big and powerful. It has a short, thick coat to protect it from the cold. The stripes on its back are designed to hide it from other animals as well as to scare them away.
The tiger is the most recognizable for its pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with a lighter underside.
It is a strong, cool-headed animal with a distinctive striped coat and a tawny color on its underbelly. Its pelage (fur) is generally a combination of tawny yellow, orange and black. There are many subspecies existing today. It has powerful paws, an intimidating set of razor-sharp teeth, and an agile body to kill prey.
Panthera tigris, also known as the Royal Bengal tiger” and the “Bengal tiger”, is a member of the Felidae family and the largest of the four “big cats” in the genus Panthera. The Bengal tiger is the most numerous, approximately 70% of all wild tigers.
Conservation Status of Panthera tigris
Conservation is the word most commonly associated with Panthera tigris. The reason for this is that for years conservationists have been fighting hard to keep this magnificent species alive, especially since there are only 100 or so of these tigers left in the world today.
Beyond the Red List, Panthera cats are threatened by poaching and illegal trade, deforestation and encroachment on their land, depletion of prey due to poaching and illegal trade for traditional medicine, poisoning via livestock carcasses laced with poison laid out to kill predators.
As of 2010, the worldwide tiger population is estimated to be at 3,890 with about 2,500 tigers in India, 1,200 in Bangladesh, 450 in Russian Federation, 340 in Indonesia, 160 in Malaysia and 100–180 tigers are reported to be living across the border in Myanmar.
The tiger population has rapidly declined in the last century due to poaching and habitat encroachment. Currently tiger conservation is an essential effort not only to save the animal, but also to prevent damage caused by their prey on farmer’s crops.
Tiger populations have sharply declined in recent decades, and their current conservation status is Critically Endangered. Though protected under the highest level of international law by several multilateral treaties that forbid trade in tiger parts, their numbers are still being decimated by poaching for use in traditional Asian medicines, as well as through habitat loss due to deforestation.
While the tiger population has increased within India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, South-East Asia still has many protected areas that are not strongly protected or managed by governments.
The tiger population worldwide has been driven close to extinction by habitat destruction, persecution, disease and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade. In Russia it is estimated that only 400-500 wild tigers remain, largely represented by isolated subadults and adult males. Russia’s Far East represents the last stronghold of wild tigers in the world.
