Tigers of North-Eastern India

[peter]

(08-07-2020, 12:07 PM)johnny rex Wrote:

(08-07-2020, 09:54 AM)peter Wrote:

(07-29-2020, 09:38 PM)Pckts Wrote:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Showed this picture to someone who took care of tigers in different zoos and often talks to collegues still working in zoos in other European countries. All of them thought it was photoshopped. Same, like I said before, for many pics of tigers taken in central parts of India and pics of pumas from Patagonia and southern Chili. Only when they saw the pics posted by Parvez did they, to a degree, change their mind. 

Recent pictures from Russia also often stun people. This although all keepers and vets working in zoos know about big cats and all read most WCS-publications on Amur tigers. 

This then is the result of incomplete, if not inaccurate, info on the size of wild tigers offered by biologists who rejected old records out of hand and entered the forest with 500-pound scales. They did a great job in saving tigers, but it's clear accurate information on the size of wild tigers also is important.   

There is some information on the size of 'problem tigers' in Russia and, often youngish, tigers killed in territorial disputes in India, but recent information on the size of healthy adult wild tigers in many regions just isn't there. Same for info on skulls and the (quite outspoken) differences between age classes.  

Anyhow. Nice pics PC and Parvez. Many thanks.

I wonder what are the ranges of skull sizes of Kaziranga tigers, do you have any data regarding skull sizes of Kaziranga tigers? Their skulls seem to be always larger than other Bengal tigers in relation to their bodies. Impressive.

Visit the tiger extinction thread for more info on the size of tigers in Cooch Behar and Assam. I posted quite a few tables based on the book of the Maharajah in early 2016, I think. 

Apart from those, there's a record of a large tiger shot in Assam in the JBNHS I also posted in that thread. The tiger, 9.8 in total length straight, had an exceptional skull and was very heavy as well. 

Bones, including skulls, are a result of function, meaning it's very likely the skull size of Kaziranga tigers is positively related to the size and weight of the animals they hunt. Competition for females, however, also is a factor to consider. Reply