BENGAL TIGER “THE SILENT KILLER”

Gabriela SympsonMs. ConferBiologyJuly 8,2011

HABITAT Part of the Animalia Kingdom 2nd Largest and heaviest cat in the cat

family Lives in the forest of India Solitary animals Males cover 20 square miles of land Women cover 17 square miles of land Has many dens and use which ever is most

convenient at the time

LET’S TAKE A LOOK The Bengal tiger is the classic orange and black

but some are black and white Althought tigers are black and white they are not

albino they have blue eyes No other tiger has the same stripe pattern

Height from head to body is 6-8 ft. tall, tail 2-3 ft. Weight 240-500 pounds Loves to be in water This picture show the detail of the tiger and it’s

stripes

ADAPTATION

The tigers have stripes to help them blend into their surroundings

The tigers hearing is very sharp they can hear sound waves below the range of normal sound

This picture shows how well the tigers can blend into the grass using their stripes to get prey

FEMALE TIGERS A female tiger’s gestation period is

three and a half months It’s difficult to see a pregnant tiger

because the don’t show until their last 10- 12 days

Spends last few days of pregnancy looking for a safe place to birth her cubs and a place that has and adequate amount of prey

DEVELOPMENT Females give birth to litters about 2-6 cubs

Self raised by the mom. By one year the babies go out with their

mother to hunt. Babies stay with their mom until their 2 years

old and then go out on their own to find their own territory.

By age five the tigers gave reach full maturity Have white spots on the back of their head to

identify each other

CUBS Tiger cubs are normally born blind And average cub weighs 785 pounds at

birth After six to twelve days the cubs eyes

start to open but they don’t have their full vision for after a few weeks

FOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!! Bengal tiger are carnivores( they eat meat)

Such as Buffalo Deer & wild pigs

The average Bengal tiger can eat up to to 60 pounds of food in one night

Usually get sick when prey is low in an area

LIFE SPAN Tigers can live to about 15 years in the

wild and about 16-18 years in a controlled environment

Most tigers from lack of food

EXTINCTION Tigers are rapidly becoming extinct due

to humans Humans use tigers for medicine to cure

ulcers, bites, and burns Humans also use the tiger for food Wild dogs are always on the hunt for

tigers

IT’S TIME TO HUNT Hunt mostly at dusk and dawn to help

them hide. When done with prey or full they leave

the pray for other mammals to eat After the kill their prey they eat it by

the water

HOW DO TIGERS SEE AT NIGHT? Have long horizontal nerves near the

eye which allows them to have a better peripheral vision

They have structure behind the eye called the tapetum lucidum it allows them to have better night vision

Have large lenses and pupils to increase the amount the of light let in. This is what gives them night vision.

ACTION

here is a video that I found that show a Bengal Tiger in it’s habitat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oer57tcW0D4&feature=player_detailpage

THIS IS MY TERRITORY Aggressiveness between tigers depends

on how many tigers are in the area Female tigers have smaller territories but

are safer for raising children Female tigers normally have territories

next to or take over their mothers territory This picture shows the tiger marking it’s

territory using scent and by scraping the tree

EVERYDAY LIVING Tigers or mostly active at night this

pattern may change due to seasons or prey activity.

Tigers constantly groom themselves to keep their coats in tip top shape and to moisturize using the oils that are given of by their glands.

They spend most of their day in water They constantly patrol their territory

SCENT & VISUAL COMMUNICATION Male and female tigers communicate through marking

territories Define boundaries by using urine because of the smell

and sometimes feces All tigers have a signature scent to mark territories, for

cubs to find their mother, and to identify each other. This scent is located in the toes

Tigers communicate by using their tales. If the tail is loosely hanging the tiger is relaxed; if the tail is moving from side to side rapidly it is showing aggression

DID YOU KNOW……. The Bengal tigers roar can be

heard from 2 miles away Tigers purr only when they breathe

out while domestic cats purr when breathing in or out

After killing it’s prey it starts eating from the hind area first

BIBLIOGRAPHY Emanoil, Mary. Encyclopedia of

Endangered Species , Detroit: Gale Research Co. 1994

Worrall, Mary. Oxford Children's Encyclopedia volume 5. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1991

"The Tiger Page",http://www.mtsu.edu/~jpurcell/Walker/Wildlife/tigers.html, (October, 2000)