The Tiger

It may surprise people to know that one of the world's great white hunters turned tiger conservation specialist, Jim Corbett, after which a tiger reserve has been named, said that, "Tigers, except when wounded or when man-eaters, are on the whole very good-tempered. Occasionally a tiger will object to too close an approach to its cubs or to a kill that it is guarding. The objection invariably takes the form of growling, and if this does not prove effective it is followed by short rushes accompanied by terrifying roars. If these warnings are disregarded, the blame for any injury inflicted rests with the intruder." Image in the public domain. The healthy tiger is a reluctant attacker of people. It wants to avoid people. They have the ability to kill people quite easily but the surprise to many is that they rarely do so. Radio collared tigers had been found about 10 m from a trail were hundreds of people walk. They have been seen next to a river in which tourist boats pass w...

NEWS AND VIEWS -ATTICA ZOOLOGICAL PARK, ATHENS GREECE: This is an astonishing variation on the classic cat dumping story. We know that not uncommonly people abandon their unwanted pet cats by dumping them outside cat rescue centres or sometimes, far more callously, in a rubbish dump somewhere, anywhere. In this instance, ABC News report that medics are fighting to save the life of a 3-month-old female white tiger cub after she was found in an appalling state in a rubbish bin outside the Attica Zoological Park by a cleaner on February 28, 2023. The rubbish bin is in a parking lot. White tiger cub abandoned outside Greek zoo in Athens. Image: Attica Zoological Park. The zoo's founder is dumbfounded. Jean-Jacques Leseur said: "It is the first time ever we had such an animal dumped outside our zoo. I mean, we had a number of cases of animals dumped, but usually these are abandoned pets; puppies, kittens, tortoises but a tiger? Never." Law enforcement is trying to identify the...

Tiger scent marking a tree. Scent is a way tigers recognise each other. Tigers do recognise each other and they probably achieve this by identifying other tigers by: appearance and scent (odour) sounds Appearance Each tiger has unique markings including the marking on the face. Human can identify tigers by their coat markings but we are unsure if tigers can do it. It seems reasonably plausible that they can. Scent Tiger scent mark like all cats wild and domestic. The scent sprayed on objects is as good as a calling card stating the name and address (in human terms). It is clear that tigers recognise other tigers by the scent that they deposit on objects. Also, the scent will be on tigers as it emanates from scent producing glands at various locations on their body as is the case for domestic cats. Scent glands for the domestic cat: Sounds Well, neither the internet (as a source of information) nor my excellent reference book state that tigers can recognise the sounds of other tigers su...

Siberian tiger caught in a camera trap in the far north of China. This is a Google Map showing the location where this Siberian tiger was captured by a remote camera trap device. These cameras are left alone and activated by movement. The name of the location as reported in online news media is confusing as there appears to be different versions of the same name of the names are wrong. For sure, though, this large tiger was spotted in a mountain range called 'Greater Hinggan Mountains' in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Xiao Hinggan Ling as shown in the map is an individual mountain as I understand it. In any event the location is in the extreme north-east of China and a place where the experts believed that the tiger was extinct. They've been proved wrong. As is the case with all tiger populations, there has been a massive diminishing of numbers since the turn of the 20th century. Some subspecies of tiger have become extinct in the wild.  The Siberian tiger is...

This is a triple comparison focusing on the paw size of a regular domestic cat. The adult tiger paw is genuinely enormous. Its size emphasises the size of the tiger. The Siberian tiger species is the world's biggest cat. I have a feeling that the paw we see in the photo is that of a Siberian tiger. Picture comparing domestic cat paw size with tiger paw size and human hand (male). Image: MikeB The strength of the tiger is very apparent in this photograph. Physically tigers are very powerful. They are burly animals supremely well equipped to single-handedly capture and subdue very large prey animals. Their strength is legendary being able to drag large prey animals across rough ground and even uphill over considerable distances to cache the animal before consuming it. The skull is large and foreshortened. This increases the bite force at the tips of the amazing set of canine teeth. The neck is short and the shoulders are broad. The forelimbs are massive, ideal for grappling with pre...

NEWS AND VIEWS - VIRGINIA, USA: Carole Baskin, the founder and chief executive of Big Cat Rescue (BCR) always detested the private zoo, big cat kings of America who she accused of abusing and exploiting big cats for commercial gain. There were a number of them. I use the past tense.  4 ‘Tiger Kings’ in America have now been charged with animal cruelty . Doc Antle and pet leopard. Image: Netflix. Since Carole Baskin, in effect, put Joe Exotic behind bars for a long stretch because of his attempts to have her murdered, she has reigned supreme as the antithesis and antidote of America's private zoo exploiters. She is going to sell up (or has sold) Big Cat Rescue and do other work with the proceeds to help wildlife welfare and conservation. Her mission at Big Cat Rescue is over. She has achieved her goals. For a long time, she was picking up the pieces of individuals such as Joe Exotic and other private zoo owners who also abused big cats and who were unable to look after them properly...

D. Smith in his work: "The role of dispersal in structuring the Chitwan tiger population" (1993) found that young tigers became independent of their mothers at seventeen to twenty-four months of age. They continued to hunt within the natal range (the home range of their mother effectively).  When do tigers become independent? 17-24 months of age. Image: MikeB This allows them to hone their hunting skills in relative safety. After doing this for a few months the young tigers 'dispersed' (left) from the natal range to find their own range at between 18-24 months of age. Male cubs learn to kill on their own and become independent earlier than females. By 15 months of age males often leave their mother for several days at a time to test independence. Females stay with their mother for longer. RELATED:  Bengal tiger travels 1300 km to find his home range and a mate . A sister and brother, both 18 months old, were watched for their behavior at this stage of their developmen...