ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[peter]

THE SIZE OF MALE INDIAN TIGERS 

1 - Length and weight per region

a - 291,55 cm. - 182,30 kg. - n=09 (curves, central-southwest India, before 1879)
b - 281,94 cm. - 190,51 kg. - n=42 (pegs, central India, before 1930)
c - 291,96 cm. - 197,63 kg. - n=18 (curves, northwest India, 1909-1912)
d - 295,46 cm. - 208,96 kg. - n=52 (curves, northeast India, 1890-1908)
e - 301,00 cm. - 221,36 kg. - n=07 (pegs, Nepal, 2 measured and 7 weighed, 1975-1976)
f -  298,00 cm. - 217,27 kg. - n=03 (pegs, southwest India, before 1993)

Ad c - Hewett's sample had some young adults. Those not weighed averaged 300,87 cm. (India) and 311,15 cm. (Nepal).
Ad d - Without 7 gorged tigers (about as long as non-gorged tigers), the average was 205,30 kg.  
Ad e - The heaviest tiger was estimated.

If all regions would be counted as one and we would forget about then and now, the average would be 203,00 kg. for a wild adult male. The average length 'between pegs' would range between 280-295 cm. roughly.

Today's tigers seem a bit (about 10 cm.) longer and much (about 25 kg.) heavier than a century ago. However. One has to remember that the samples of a century ago were more reliable.  

2 - Compared to a human

a - About 195 kg. (captive tiger 'Taj', Dreamworld Australia):

*This image is copyright of its original author

b - About 200 kg. (captive tiger 'Sultan', Dreamworld Australia):

*This image is copyright of its original author

3 - Conclusions

At times, debates about the size of tigers erupt. It seems that any report about wild male tigers not exceeding at least 420 pounds isn't taken very seriously.      

Between 1860-1930, the average of wild males in India ranged between 182-209 kg. The average of 4 regions was 194,85 kg. (429 pounds). Today's tigers are about 4 inches longer and significantly heavier (219,32 kg. or 484 pounds), but one has to remember less than 15 male tigers were measured and weighed.

Some time ago, when I tried to find out more on those tigers Hewett wasn't able to weigh, I concluded a cm. in total length corresponded to about 7 pounds in adult males. If today's tigers really average 484 pounds, the length 'between pegs', if they would be similar in proportion, wouldn't be 280-282 cm., like a century ago, but 288-290 cm. (55 pounds divided by 7 is about 8 cm.) They would be more robust when they, at about 480 pounds, would still average 9.3 'between pegs' in total length.

The photographs were added to show you that a male tiger of 180-200 kg. (400-440 pounds), compared to a good-sized human, is a large animal. Now try to imagine a 220 kg. (485 pounds) tiger of similar proportions. Than one of 272,16 kg. (600 pounds). Wild tigers of that weight are still around in some parts of India and Nepal, but they have to be considered as exceptional. 

The averages in this post are without the Naga Hills and the Sunderbans. Sunderban male tigers, although genetically similar to those in central India, are about half the weight of an adult male in central India. The conditions in the Sunderbans are very poor, much more so than we assumed. Hunger, most probably, is the reason tigers take what they can.   

The Naga Hills tigers, at 8.7 'between pegs' in total length, compare to those in Terengganu half a century ago (also 8.7 'between pegs'). Two males were 330 (149,69 kg.) and 344 (156,04 kg.) pounds. Tigers in the extreme east of Assam could belong to P.t. corbetti, as the Naga Hills (part of a series of Hills) seem to be a divide in more than one way. Reply