A tiger with a distinctive stripe pattern is also known as the “king of the jungle. Tigers are one of the most popular animals because they are strong and good-looking.
Did you know that such tigers actually have an unexpected side to them that they are not very good at hunting? Let’s take a sneak peek at what traits and secrets tigers have!

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～ Basic information. ～

Mammalia Carnivora-Felidae-Leopard genus.
Length:140～280cm.
Weight:90～306kg(vary depending on the type.)

Males are larger in both length and weight than females.

The main habitats of tigers are the islands of India, China, Indonesia and around Russia.

Tigers are divided into nine types depending on where they live, but all of them prefer to live in places where there are trees with poor visibility.

However, it is known that the size of the body and the temperature they like vary greatly depending on the species. The smallest existing tiger, the sumatran tiger, lives in a damp tropical rainforest where it rains a lot, and the largest tiger, the amur tiger, lives in a snowy field where it sometimes snows and reaches minus 40 degrees Celsius.

Unlike lions, tigers do not form flocks and live alone on a daily basis. Except during the breeding season, males and females basically act alone, and only during the breeding season, males and females act together.

In addition, tigers do not chase their prey, but creep up on them and jump on them, killing them with a single shot.

Basically, they catch and eat wild cows, deer, wild boars, and monkeys, but they may also eat snakes and other reptiles, peacocks and other birds, and fish.

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Tiger’s Q&A.

Why do tigers have stripes?

The striped pattern on the tiger’s body looks very flashy, but it is actually a protective color in deep bushes.

Herbivores, the prey of tigers, have a wide field of view to make it easier to find carnivores. However, since the ability to distinguish colors is low, it is said that from the eyes of herbivores, the black, vertical stripes of tigers are indistinguishable from those of bushes.

In other words, the flashy-looking tiger stripes are actually not very noticeable and are a secret tool for tigers that can help increase the success rate of hunting.

Why are white tigers white?

The white tiger is a “white variant” of the bengal tiger, a species of tiger that lives around India. A white variety is an animal that has lost its pigmentation due to mutation and has become white in color.

Some animals with a white body color are called “albinos,” but albino indicates animals with a white body color because they do not have the gene to produce the black pigment called melanin.

The white variant and albino are a little complicated, but if you want to distinguish them, you should pay attention to the color of their eyes. The eyes of the white variety are the same color as those of normal animals, but the eyes of albino animals are easily recognizable because their blood vessels show through and turn red.

Is it true that tigers are not good hunters?

Tigers are very powerful animals, but they are too heavy to keep up with their prey quickly.

Even though they are heavy, they run at a surprisingly fast speed, about 50 to 60 km/h (maximum 80 km/h), but the success rate of hunting is said to be low in areas with good visibility. Therefore, when hunting, they use the striped pattern I explained earlier to gently sneak up on their prey and catch them.

However, I am actually not good at hunting, so the success rate is said to be about once every 10 to 20 times. Instead, you can eat a lot of meat (10-20 kg, sometimes 30 kg) at a time, so you can survive with a low hunting success rate.

Which is stronger, the tiger or the lion?

Many people think of tigers and lions when they think of large, strong feline animals. And many people may wonder, “who is stronger, the tiger or the lion”?

In fact, there are several records overseas of tigers and lions actually fighting each other. However, the winners and losers are repeated, and it is not clear who is stronger.

Either way, tigers and lions like different places, so wild tigers and lions don’t meet and fight.

※This is because tigers prefer places with poor visibility, while lions prefer places with less obstacles and better visibility.

What do the tigers at the zoo eat?

Basically, zoos often feed tigers with meat from cows, horses, and chickens.

（Incidentally, there are three types of tigers in zoos in Japan amur tigers, bengal tigers, and sumatra tigers.）

However, meat processed for human consumption has had its blood and internal organs removed and lacks the nutrients necessary to make a tiger’s body. For this reason, zoos may try to balance the nutrition by sprinkling vitamins on the meat or feeding cow bones as snacks.

Is it true that tigers like to bathe?

It’s true.

It may come as a surprise, but especially during the hot season, we spend hours in the water to avoid the heat. They are also good swimmers and sometimes approach and attack herbivores relaxing in the river.

Some zoos have pools in tiger rooms, so if you are lucky, you may be able to see tigers bathing in the zoo.

Do the tigers, the kings of the jungle, have enemies?

Tigers are very strong animals, but do they have enemies?

Tigers are carnivores that eat herbivores, but in fact, their prey, herbivores, are not always eaten in silence. Gauls, elephants, and wild boars can fight back against tigers and cause serious injury.

But the tigers’ greatest enemy is, surprisingly, us humans. We cut through a lot of forest where tigers live to create fields and utilize trees. I also caught a lot of tigers to get their clean fur and to use their bones and internal organs for medicine.

And out of the original nine species of tigers, we have exterminated a whopping three. The remaining six species are also endangered species that are likely to become extinct, and it is said that if this continues, there may be no more wild tigers.

Extinction means that one type of animal will all die and disappear from the earth. Incidentally, Japanese wolves and sea lions are known as extinct species of animals in Japan.

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Type of tiger.

・Bengal Tiger
・Siberian Tiger
・South China Tiger
・Sumatran Tiger
・Indochinese Tiger
・Malayan Tiger
・Bali Tiger（Extinct species.）
・Javan Tiger（Extinct species.）
・Caspian Tiger（Extinct species.）

Bibliography.

今泉 忠明(2004年）『野生ネコの百科』データハウス

旅探「動物園でチェックしたい！トラの目立つ縞模様のわけ」
https://www.homemate-research-zoo.com/useful/13969_zoo_054/

WWFジャパン「これを読めばトラ博士？！絶滅危惧種トラの生態や亜種数は？」
https://www.wwf.or.jp/activities/basicinfo/3566.html

太地町立くじらの博物館「体色が白い動物　アルビノと白変種（白化個体）」
http://www.kujirakan.jp/pdf/201503_albino.pdf

京都市動物園「Ｑ.ジャガーやトラの走る速度はどれくらいですか？」
https://www5.city.kyoto.jp/zoo/uploads/image/Q217.pdf

アイキャッチ画像
https://pixabay.com/images/id-552939/