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Kanha Tigers |
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The
AZA Tiger SSP encompasses three subspecies of tiger: Siberian,
Sumatran, and Indochinese. Two |
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additional subspecies, the South China tiger and Bengal tiger, are not
included in the SSP. Tiger subspecies are
primarily |
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distinguished by where they live, though there are physical differences
among them. The Siberian is the largest and lightest |
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-colored tiger, in comparison
to the Sumatran, the smallest and darkest tiger. The |
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tiger is the largest member of
the cat family. It measures seven to ten feet
long, nose |
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to tail, stand three feet tall
at the shoulder and weighs from 250 to over 500 pounds, |
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depending on the subspecies. The Siberian tiger is
found in the Amur region of the |
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Russian Far East, North Korea
and northeast China; the Sumatran tiger is found only |
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on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The Bengal tiger is the most common
and is |
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found scattered in forests throughout India,
Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar. |
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The Indochinese tiger is found in Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia,
Laos, Cambodia, |
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Vietnam and southern most China. The South China tiger is found only in
south central |
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China. Tigers live in a great range of habitats, essentially requiring
sufficient prey populations, |
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| adequate
cover to stalk or ambush, and access to water. Tigers may live in northern
latitudes in |
| snowy
mountain hardwood forests, monsoon or seasonally deciduous forests, or in
tropical |
| rainforests.
Tigers in general hunt and eat wild deer, cattle and pigs. There are
reports of tigers |
| attacking
bears, wolves and even elephants and rhinos. They occasionally kill
domestic livestock |
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in rare instances, become man-eaters. Tigers are generally solitary,
territorial animals, |
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the range of one male overlapping that of several females. Females in
estrus spray pheromone |
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urine on trees and others natural "signposts", alerting nearby
males to their reproductive status. Through loud moaning |
| calls,
the prospective mates find each other. Females give birth on average
with to two to three cubs (only one or two survive to |
| maturity),
and over the next several years teach them the hunting skills they will
need to survive. At two to three years of age, the |
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cubs
establish their own territories. Daughters tend to settle near their
mother, sons |
| disperse
greater distances.Depending on where tigers live, threats are the loss of
habitat |
| and
prey, poaching and poisoning. While protected by law, poaching of the
tiger still |
| occurs,
and confirmed man-eaters must be captured or shot. Most tiger populations
are |
| small
and isolated, and it is likely that many of these populations are losing
genetic |
| diversity.
Three subspecies; the Caspian, Bali and Javan tigers-are extinct, while
the South |
| China
tiger is near extinction. The tiger is
listed as an endangered species by the U.S. |
| Fish
and Wildlife Service and the IUCN Red Book and is an Appendix I species
under CITES. From
an estimated 100,000 tigers |
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a century ago, fewer than 5,000 remain in the wild. About 3,000-4,000
Bengal tigers, 400-500 Siberian tigers, 400-500 Sumatran |
| tigers
and 1,000-1,800 Indochinese tigers remain in the wild. Fewer than 20 wild
South China. |
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