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

peter Offline
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( This post was last modified: 10-31-2016, 11:10 AM by peter )

TWO MALE PANNA TIGERS RADIO-COLLARD


Over the years, the size of tigers has been debated many times in many forums. Although most good information is from India, the debates on the size of Indian tigers still continue. One reason is India has many different regions. Another is most samples are very small. A third reason is there is quite a bit of doubt about the reliability of the information.

Although not pretending to be accurate, I think it's more or less clear that captive male Indian tigers in Indian zoos average about 400-410 lbs. (181,44-185,976 kg.). The weight of wild male tigers, however, still is an enigma. What is known, suggest they seem to be heavier than, say, a century ago or so.

Some years ago, the BBC broadcasted 'Tigers of the Emerald Forest'. One of the male Panna tigers who featured in the documentary might have exceeded 550 lbs. (249,48 kg.). Might, because we are not quite sure. The reason was he too apparently bottomed a scale. His rival, who controlled another part of Panna ('Hairyfoot'), was estimated to be even larger.

Here's Hairyfoot:


*This image is copyright of its original author


A few years after the documentary was broadcasted, nearly all tigers had gone. I'm not sure as to what happened later, but today Panna again has tigers. Some of them were radio-collared a few years ago. Although it is admittedly difficult to get to a guesstimate, there's no question that both were large and massive animals.   

A few decades ago, I measured 3 captive adult male Amur tigers 'between pegs'. At 280,0 cm., 287,0 cm. and 294,5 cm. in total length, they were of average size, perhaps a bit shorter. The longest male was 184,5 kg. (407 lbs.), whereas the biggest well exceeded 200 kg. We couldn't get to more accuracy, because he suddenly woke up when we were trying to weigh him. Out in the open, we had no option but the transport him back as soon as possible. He was a good-natured tiger, who even 'prusted' at us while half-sedated. Some years later, he was flown to another home and weighed at Schiphol Airport. At the airport, they got to 211 kg. ((466-467 lbs.). The third male, his brother, was as bulky, but a tad shorter. Let's say they averaged 287,0 cm. in total length straight and about 200 kg. (441-442 lbs.).

In my opinion, the male tigers in the videos could have been a bit longer. Weightwise, however, the difference was clear: both Panna males had large and heavy skulls, much more massive necks and shoulders and bigger fore-arms. Male Amur tigers, wild or captive, have big skulls and fore-arms for their size, but I noticed time and again that many wild male Indian tigers are more massive. 

Guate got to 240-250 kg. for the two males who featured in the documentary mentioned above. Based on what I know and saw in different videos, my guess is he could have been very close. If he was, the question is what to make of male tigers in northeastern India. Some Kazirangha males seem out of this world. If they were of average length (about 280 cm. in total length in a straight line), they could well have exceeded the weights of Panna tigers. The male tigers who featured in the videos below were very tigerlike; long, athletic and massive in the fore-quarters. Kazirangha male tigers, however, seem massive from tail to nose. And then there are the Himalayan tigers.               

The question is why wild male Indian tigers are heavier than their captive male relatives. One answer is many captive tigers get to adulthood, which is not true for wild male tigers. Only the most capable survive and even they are far from unchallenged. Male tiger 'Raja', considered to be quite special, killed at least three rivals, but many other males with a good territory, by no means small animals, not seldom perish in a fight. This Kanha tiger is just one example:


*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author
 

I also noticed that captive Indian tigers, although quite long and tall, often seem a bit below par. Perhaps, to a degree, they could be underfed. 
   
Anyhow. I was quite impressed by what I saw. The tiger in the second video in particular is a massive animal:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bkUXmpM3Ho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVY9mvOCyAc
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Messages In This Thread
RE: ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - TIGERS (Panthera tigris) - peter - 10-31-2016, 09:29 AM
Demythologizing T16 - tigerluver - 04-12-2020, 11:44 AM
Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 07-28-2014, 09:54 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 07-28-2014, 10:02 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 07-29-2014, 12:56 AM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - peter - 07-29-2014, 07:05 AM
Tiger recycling bin - Roflcopters - 09-04-2014, 01:36 AM
RE: Tiger recycling bin - Pckts - 09-04-2014, 02:22 AM
RE: Tiger recycling bin - Roflcopters - 09-05-2014, 01:01 AM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 11-15-2014, 10:07 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 11-15-2014, 10:57 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 11-15-2014, 11:33 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - Apollo - 02-19-2015, 11:25 PM
RE: Tiger Data Bank - GuateGojira - 02-23-2015, 11:36 AM
Status of tigers in India - Shardul - 12-20-2015, 03:23 PM
RE: Tiger Directory - Diamir2 - 10-03-2016, 04:27 AM
RE: Tiger Directory - peter - 10-03-2016, 06:22 AM
Genetics of all tiger subspecies - parvez - 07-15-2017, 01:08 PM
RE: Tiger Predation - peter - 11-11-2017, 08:08 AM
RE: Man-eaters - Wolverine - 12-03-2017, 11:30 AM
RE: Man-eaters - peter - 12-04-2017, 09:44 AM
RE: Tigers of Central India - Wolverine - 04-13-2018, 01:17 AM
RE: Tigers of Central India - qstxyz - 04-13-2018, 08:34 PM
RE: Size comparisons - peter - 07-16-2019, 05:28 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - peter - 05-20-2021, 07:13 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - Nyers - 05-21-2021, 08:02 PM
RE: Amur Tigers - peter - 05-22-2021, 08:09 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - GuateGojira - 04-06-2022, 12:59 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - tigerluver - 04-06-2022, 01:08 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - tigerluver - 04-06-2022, 09:08 AM
RE: Amur Tigers - tigerluver - 04-06-2022, 11:30 PM
RE: Amur Tigers - peter - 04-08-2022, 07:27 AM



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