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

[Apollo]

Ive heard many sources sharing different opinions when it comes to Ranthambore tigers and central Indian tigers.
But IMHO Im pretty sure that Ranthambore tigers are atleast taller (bigger framed) than their central indian cousins.
There could be many reason for this,
The possible internal factor are,
Ranthambore tigers ancestry goes back to a small group of tigers, since they descended from few individuals from the beginning they seem to be a highly inbred population.
The unique geographic location makes them genetically isolated from other groups.
Such genetic isolation and weak gene pool can make certain physical traits more pronounced.
The possible external factors are, habitat and preybase.
Ranthambore and its neighboring reserves were more drier, flat and arid compared to many of the central indian reserves. it seems more suitable for lions than to tigers.
The prey animals were also smaller and faster.
This may contribute to the taller and bigger frame.
Ranth tigers do have a lighter orange colored skin with darker and thin stripes compared to central indian ones.

As far as I know when it comes to gypsy comparison, Ranthambore males do appear taller than any central indian males near the gypsy vehicles. Ive seen tons of videos and still none appeared to be as tall as Ranth males.




This is T28 male aka star male, a very tall and large framed male compared only to Khali male from Corbett (Khali was bigger though).

*This image is copyright of its original author

This is T72 aka Sultan, look how tall he is even when he was a subadult.

This is T12 male tiger, look how tall he is next to the vehicle.

T24 aka Sultanpur male, check out his size near the door and the vehicle.

T42 aka Fateh is a tall male too

Reply