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
:
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).
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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