There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
Thanks for thge info. Inbreeding is a big problem in many zoos. For this reason, the unrelated male tiger 'Johann' (from Parc des Félins, Nesles, France?) is of vital importance. Apparently, it took him quite some time to accept the females in Prague (not all captive tigers breed).
Did you see 10-year old 'Johann'? And 11-year old tigress 'Banya'? Can you describe the behaviour of both towards each other and other tigers? I also would appreciate a description of the ground colour and the colour and width and length of the stripes. Attitude towards humans? Size?
If you compare Malaysian tigers with tigers of other subspecies, what stands out?
I have seen males Johann, Kavi and females Banya and Raja (Raja is not in Prague any more). I have not seen these tigers together. Kavi, Banya and Raja are quite tall (relatively) and slim. Elegant. The elegance of their bodies reminds me sri lankan leopards. Their colour is similar to bengal tigers, I woud say. Johan is completely different, he is shorter and bulkier. His colour is reddish. He looks like sumatran tiger. I would estimate the males to be around 140 - 150 kg. They are somewhat bigger than sumatran male Falco from Prague.
Behaviour: Kavi is hyperagressive, breeders dont know why. Perhaps something happened to him before he has been translocated to Prague. He had to be excluded from the breeding program. Johan was also quite problemaic, but not as much as Kavi, so finally he calmed down.
Couple of years ago I visited the backstage of the pavilion of felids and talked to breeders. We talked about the differencies between tigers and lions. They told me that tigers are more active and agressive. I thought that sumatrans are the most agressive tigers, but they told me that their sumatrans are quite friendly - malayans and amurs are much more agressive. Lions are definitely more social and have much closer relationship with breeders.
They told me that they havent noticed any differencis in intelligence between felids. On the other hand the main breeder in one interview said that tigers are the strongest personalities.
I remember how we talked about the size of amur tigers and lions. According to them, amur males are over 200kg easily...they said that typical amur is 220, 230 kg. When it comes to lions they said 150, 170 kg even more...but they said it in the sense that lions are also huge felids.
BTW I have to say that I was impressed when I saw male persian leopard. Bigger than sri lankan leopard and way bigger than amur and african leopards. In fact i thought that leopards cant grow to such a size.
02-20-2018, 12:05 PM( This post was last modified: 02-20-2018, 05:25 PM by Rishi )
Latest images of Subhranshu & Krishna, the only captive melanistic tigers in the world, residents of Nandan Kanan zoo safari-zone in Bhubaneswar, Odisha; the 2nd largest zoo in India.
*This image is copyright of its original author
*This image is copyright of its original author
Although we don't really know when & where the mutation took place, but presently only the Simlipal TR has about a half a dozen melanistic tigers (as per previous census, latest data isn't available yet).
As most of the facilities specimens had been sourced from Odisha's own forests, probably some carrier/s of the gene were among them.
Unbeknownst to everyone, one white tigress (Sneha) & her mate (Manish) were carriers & she surprised the authorities by giving birth to a litter of 4 with two melanistics in mid-2014.
Zoos, Circuses, Safaris: A Gallery of Captivity
