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Panthera tigris tigris
The Bengal tiger grows to be only about
10 feet long (including the tail) and weighs in at around 400 to 600
pounds. The Bengal tiger has a richer color and darker stripes than
the
Siberian
tiger. Bengal tigers occasionally have a coat that is white instead
of orange. These
white
Bengal tigers
have icy blue eyes and black, or brown stripes. They are not albino
tigers; if they were, they would not have colored stripes or blue
eyes, they would have pink eyes. Bengal tigers can be found in
central and southern India, southern Nepal, Bhutan, western Myanmar
and Bangladesh.
The wild Bengal tiger is the largest in India. The World
Conservation Union Cat Specialist Group estimates between 3,250 -
4,700 Bengal tigers. There are 66 different protected areas for the
Bengal tiger in India. There are 3 protected areas for Bengal tigers
in Nepal housing150-250 tigers, 4 protected areas in Bhutan housing
50-250 tigers, 3 protected areas in Bangladesh housing 300-450
tigers. The number of wild Bengal tigers in Myanmar is unknown.
Bengal tigers have been captive in zoos since 1880. The first zoo in
India to house tigers was the Alipore Zoo in Calcutta. They have
been bred so successfully in captivity that there are too many
captive Bengals
today. Many are sent to sanctuaries to live out
their lives. The International Tiger Studbook says the total captive
population of pure- bred (there has been a lot of crossing of pure Bengals with tigers of unknown descent) Bengal tigers is 333. Of
those 333, 289 have the orange color typical of tigers and the
remaining 44 are white. All of the pure strain captive Bengal tigers
are housed in zoos in India except for 1 pure strain female Bengal
tiger that is housed in the United States.
 • The
estimated wild population of Bengal tigers is approximately
3,159–4,715 tigers, with about 333 in captivity, primarily in zoos
in India.
• Most Bengal tigers
live in India, although some range through Nepal, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, and Myanmar.
• White tigers are
simply a color variant of Bengal tigers and are rarely found in the
wild.
• The Bengal tiger
lives in a wide range of habitats, including the high-altitude,
cold, coniferous Himalayan forests, the steaming mangroves of the
Sunderbans, the swampy reedlands, the scorched hills of the Indian
peninsula, the lush wet forests of Northern India, and the arid
forests of Rajasthan.
• Male Bengal tigers
average 2.9 meters (9 1/2 feet) from head to tail and weigh about
220 kilograms (480 pounds). Females are smaller, measuring about 2.5
meters (8 feet) in length and weighing approximately 140 kilograms
(300 pounds).
• Bengal tigers prey
primarily on wild deer and wild cattle.
• Their range size is
estimated at 10-39 km2 (3.9–15 mile2) for
females and 30-105 km2 (11.7–40.5 mile2) for
males (Sunquist 1981).
Color Variations in Tigers
The following information is abstracted from a recent paper* by B.C.
Prusty and L.A. Singh, on the varied colorations of the tiger.
 Most
tigers are tawny brown in color with dark stripes and whitish
stomachs. Reports and records indicate however, that a few wild
tigers have been seen in unusual colors, including all white and
all black .
White Tigers :
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A mutation of the
Bengal subspecies, white tigers have dark brown or reddish brown
stripes on a white ground-color. A popular attraction in many of
today's zoos, white tigers in the wild were recorded in India
during the Mughal Period from 1556 to 1605 AD (Divyabhanusinh,
1986). At least 17 instances were recorded in India between 1907
and 1933 (Gee, 1954) in Orissa, Bilaspur, Sohagpur and Rewa (Pocock,
1939).
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All wild white tigers were a color variation of Bengal
tigers. Wild white tigers were very rare, and none have
been reported in the wild since the 1950s.
White tigers in zoos are inbred and crossbred mixtures of
Bengal and Siberian. They are neither albinos (in which
case they would have pink eyes), nor a separate species;
they have chocolate stripes and blue eyes, although
several variations in eye and stripe color are seen. White
tigers are only born to parents that both carry the
recessive gene for white coloring.
The first
white cub precursor to all the captive white tigers is
believed to be one trapped by the Maharaja of Rewa, who
found it orphaned in the jungle in 1951. Named Mohan, the
cub was later mated to a normal-colored captive tigress
who produced three litters with normal coloring. A few
years later, Mohan mated with one of the offspring,
producing the first litter of white cubs in
captivity—these were to be the ancestors of others now in
many zoos the world over.
As of June
1998, there were 30 white tigers in U.S. zoos that
participate in SSP (species survival plan) programs. No
one knows how many more are in private hands. |
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