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

[peter]

(02-26-2016, 06:16 AM)Pckts Wrote: Safe to say that any tigress over 155kg is to be considered an extremely large tigress.

Some years ago, I saw a documentary about a tigress who had attacked a number of women collecting leaves in the forest. Not all victims were killed. One young woman who was ambushed begged for her life and got away with a few scratches. The tigress, partly for this reason, was given the benefit of the doubt for a long time, but when she didn't change her behaviour it was decided to take her out. She was shot from a tree and taken to the village where many of her victims had lived. Although some cheered, not a few seemed to have second thoughts. The tigress was weighed and measured in front of the camera. At 265 cm. in total length in a straight line (about 9.0 'over curves' or just over) and just over 150 kg. empty (about 332-334 lbs.), she proved to be well over par.

The famous Faizabad man-eater could have compared, but it always is tricky to assess the size of a big cat: 

*This image is copyright of its original author

  

The tigress below was shot in the eastern part of Central India (Abutschmar). She was a man-eater credited with about 200 human kills (...). According to a local teacher, who kept track of her, this number could have been an underestimation.

Werner Fend, from Austria, hunted her and wrote a book about his experiences. He also made a documentary, which was broadcasted. I saw it twice. The tigress seemed to realize he was bad news. She avoided him for a long time. The situation changed when Fend sensed she was close. For some reason, she came for him. The cook captured the moment she stalked him. When hit, she rolled over gently and without a sound.  

Fend wrote she was about 200 kg. when she was shot (...), but that could have been the result of a mistake when the book was translated. My guess is she didn't get to 130 kg. It's one of the best documented modern cases of a man-eating tigress:  

*This image is copyright of its original author

This tigress, allegedly poached in or near Pench, was a bulkier animal: 

*This image is copyright of its original author

This photograph was posted before. Tigress 'Safeda' was almost as large and muscular as an average male tiger:  

*This image is copyright of its original author

As to the last table in the previous post on tigers in northern India and Nepal. The heaviest tigress shot by the Maharajah of Cooch Behar and his guests was 360 lbs. (163,30 kg.), whereas the next heaviest was 343 lbs. (155,59 kg.). One of the two tigresses weighed in Nepal was 347 lbs. (157,40 kg.). Only 3 of the 31 tigresses weighed a century ago exceeded 332 lbs. (150 kg.). This percentage could have increased in the last decades, but 150 kg. is large anywhere.

I'm not sure about captive Indian tigresses, but some captive Amur tigresses can reach 160-180 kg. (353-396 lbs.). I saw a few and they were not obese. Heptner and Sludskij ('Die Säugetiere der Sowjet-Union', Band III, Jena, 1980, pp. 120) published records of wild Amur tigresses close to or even over 160 kg. (up to 200 kg. according to Baikov), but females of that size were and are very uncommon.  

Although wild lionesses average 120-130 kg. in most regions, some hotspots produce heavyweights quite often. The reason isn't length (Indian and Amur tigresses are longer), but work-related bulk. A tigress with cubs can't afford to hunt large animals, as a mistake could turn out to be costly. Lionesses, on the other hand, have to provide for a large family, including a number of adult males. This means they have to hunt large animals. 

Female hunting teams have scouts, stops, wingers and centres. Wingers and stops only very seldom exceed 280 lbs., but centres have to deal with large animals. Some lionesses are experienced buffalo killers. Quite many of them exceed 310 lbs. and I also have reliable records of lionesses approaching and even exceeding 350 lbs. Meinertzshagen wasn't the only one who shot lionesses of that size. 

The only region where tigresses averaged 300 lbs. or a bit over a century ago was northeast India (Cooch Behar, the Duars and Assam). Nepal tigresses might have been as heavy, but that's speculation only. In Nepal, weight could be explained by total length, but in northeast India it probably didn't. My guess is many tigresses in that part of India hunted large animals. Reply