Modern weights and measurements on wild tigers

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(10-12-2019, 10:09 AM)Ashutosh Wrote: @Roflcopters, forget weighing, but most of the tigers you see pictured (they are shy as it is) are only from buffer zones of most national parks. Unless the forest officials release images of animals from the core area, most will never even know what tigers lived there and core areas are much more likely to have lots of herbivores and better prey base for predators as it is better protected.

Weighing tigers is not really a serious consideration when it comes to conservation and is down the list of priorities because of the risks involved in darting them (to humans and tigers). So, you are definitely being generous with 2%. Madla was a minimum 250 kilos tiger(the contraption could only weigh upto 250 kilos) and we know that Hairy foot was bigger than Madla. So, the 250 kilos tigers are definitely out there. Sadly, Panna lost two lineages to poaching.

Personally, I think Bengal tigers in most of their habitat are yet to recover their sizes because poaching took away the biggest specimens and robbed us of their progenies. Of course over time, you will start seeing tigers again back to the size they evolved to be.

That´s interesting way to put it. I mean "to the size they evolved to be". After all difference between weights known today and for instance 100-150 years ago isn´t that big. Major difference is, that back then some hunters reported some weights and sizes, which were more or less unbelievable when looking at common sizes and weights. Those cases seem to be more or less controversial. Question is, that are those cases exaggerations by hunters etc. or maybe some individuals have had same kind of disorder as people who suffer from acromegaly. 

But what are tigers evolved to be... looks like, that in between 200-300 kg when talking about males, imo. And 300 kg is really big one, not seen too often nowadays and also rare in "good old days". When seeing big boys like Wagdoh, question is, that are there many bigger ones? No matter where they live. Many opinions, but difficult to say. Reply