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Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758)

INTRODUCTION

The Tiger has a distinctive reddish orange coat striped with black, and is the largest of the cats. Populations occur in a wide range of habitats from the evergreen and monsoon forests of Indo-Malaysia to the birch woodlands of Siberia and the mangrove swamps of the Sundarbans.13 In areas of prey abundance, such as Chitwan National Park in Nepal, territories range from 10 to 20 km2 for females and 30 to 70 km2 for males. In the Russian Far East where prey is scarce, territories vary in size from 200 to 400 km2 for females and 800 to 1,000 km2 for males.13 Tigers are typically solitary hunters and prey mainly on deer (Cervus, Axis spp) and wild pig (Sus spp). Both sexes become sexually mature at 3 to 4 years of age and after a gestation period of 93 to 111 days a litter averaging 2 to 3 cubs is born; there are 2-3 years between litters.13

Eight subspecies are recognized:

P.t. altaica     (Temminck, 1844)    Siberian (Amur) Tiger
P.t. amoyensis   (Hilzheimer, 1905)  South China Tiger
P.t. balica      (Schwarz, 1912)     Bali Tiger  (extinct)
P.t. corbetti    (Mazak, 1968)       Indochinese Tiger
P.t. sondaica    (Fitzinger, 1845)   Javan Tiger  (extinct)
P.t. sumatrae    (Pocock, 1829)      Sumatran Tiger
P.t. tigris      (Linnaeus, 1758)    Bengal (Indian) Tiger
P.t. virgata     (Illiger, 1815)     Caspian Tiger  (extinct)

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