Modern weights and measurements on wild tigers

[BorneanTiger]

(02-12-2019, 05:09 AM)GuateGojira Wrote:

(01-14-2019, 10:28 AM)Kingtheropod Wrote: Body Mass of Bengal tiger in Modern Records: Revised (2019)

Hello everyone, I have decided to make a new revision of the body mass of Bengal tiger in modern records. This list included the weights of 30 male tigers, with a few others not included. The average body weight is 492 lbs (223 kg).

Note: Sundarbans tigers not included.

Chitwan NP, Nepal:
Average 221 kg adjusted. n=7. Range 184-261 kg. Reference: Smith et al., 1983; Sunquist, 1981. These tigers originally averaged 235 kg but they consumed on average 14 kg of meat

Chitwan NP, Nepal:
270+ kg. n=1. Reference: Dinerstein, E. (2003). This animal (M026) exceeded the scale of 270 kg along with Sauraha male (M105). This animals weight of 270 kg's is included.

Nagarahole NP:

Average 217 kg adjusted. n=3. Range 209-227 kg. Reference: Karanth, 1993.

Panna TR
Average 245 kg. n=2. Range 240-250 kg. Reference. Chundawat & Malik, 2010; Pers Comm. 2009. Note: Both these tigers exceeded a scale of 250 kg, but was estimated to weigh about these measurements, M-91's weight was adjusted down due to 10 kg of weighing equipment. The other tiger was Madla who's weight is given as 250 kg.

Panna TR
240 kg. n=1. Reference: Noronha, 2015. Tiger known as "T-3", age 10 years old. Tiger was reintroduced to Panna TR. This was a statement from former field director, Panna tiger reserve, R Sriniwas Murthy. This same tiger was also weighed previously at the age of 60 months at 200 kg.

Panna TR
211.5 kg. n=2. Range 205-218 kg. Reference: Roamin; Pers. Comm. 2016. Two tigers, one known as P212 weighed 190 kg at 4.5 years old, this same animal was stated to have weighed 205 kg's during the winter months. Another unknown male was stated to have weighed 218 kg.  


Sariska TR, India
220 kg. n=1. Reference: Sinha , 2008. This tiger was a young male, said to be three and a half years old. This tiger was also recaptured and estimated to weigh 250 kg when it was older

Kanha NP, India
197 kg. n=1. Reference: 21st Century Tiger, 2014

Kanha NP, India
225+ kg. n=2. Reference: Sinha; Pers. Comm. 2016 & Minha Ha; Pers. Comm. 2016. Tigers named Banda and Konda both exceeded a scale of 225 kg. These tigers where weighed back in October and February of 2007. These animals weights that exceeded scale are included in the final average.

Kanha NP, India
225 kg. n=1. Reference: Vats, 2016. This tiger is the sub adult male named Bheema. He weighed 225 kg at the age of 2.5 years old. He was later estimated to weigh greater then 280 kg's as an adult. This animal is not included in the final average.

Uttar Pradesh's South Kheri forest
235 kg. n=1. Reference: Singh, 2016. This is the Kheri man-eater transferred to Lucknow Zoo. Animal said to be 4 years old. Treated by Dr. Mayukh Chatterjee

Dudhwa NP, India
210 kg. n=1. Reference: Ahsan; Pers. Comm. 2016. This was a 4 year old problematic male tiger that strayed out of Dudhwa NP.


Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve
185 kg. n=1. Reference: Habib; Pers. Comm. 2015. Tiger named Gabbar, 8 year old male

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve
197 kg. n=1. Reference: Dhanwatey, 2015. This tiger was a 4 year old problem animal which attacked a farmer and his cattle. This animal had received injuries to its paws and nose, aswell as broken canines. This animal was featured in animal planet series 'Living with Maneaters'.


Ranthambore NP, India
240 kg. n=1. Reference: Khandal; Pers. Comm. 2015. Tiger known as "T-24", This tiger was actually weighed in 2009.

Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary in Nagpur, India
230 kg. n=1. Reference: Karoo; Pers. Comm. 2015. Tiger named Jai. This tiger was stated to weigh between 220 and 238 kg, the weighing scale used had a 18 kg margin of error. This same tiger was also stated to have been weighed a second time, one authority claiming 240 kg's and another stating 215 kg's.

Pilibhit TR
172.45 kg. n=1. Reference: Ghosal, 2018. Tiger named "Fateh" estimated to be 3-4 years old. This tiger was captured and later transferred to Kanpur Zoo where he will stay the rest of his life.

Pilibhit TR
345 kg. n=1. Reference: Jamshed; Pers. Comm. 2018. Tiger was stated to be 7 years old. 

Lalgarh Forest
220 kg. n=1. Reference: Khanra & Mukherjee, 2018. Tiger was killed in lalgarh forest, estimated to be 10-12 years old. A post-mortem investigation concluded that the tiger was killed by tribal hunters armed with spears. 

Zhemgang, Bhutan
170 kg. n=1. Reference: Tenzin, 2018. A team at global tiger centre (GTC) has trapped and collared a tiger estimated to be 6-7 years old. Tiger was a cattle killer that killed 18 cows in the span of a year.

Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary in Nagpur, India
230 kg. n=2. Reference: Deshpande, 2017. These two tigers are the sons of tiger (Jai) mentioned above. Both of them weighed 230 kg during their second collaring at the age of 32 months old. The tigers names are Bittu and Srinivas (T-9 and T-10 respectively). Collaring was performed by Dr. Bilal Habib. These two are not included in the final average.

Pench NP, India
225 kg. n=1. Reference: Minha Ha; Pers. Comm. 2016. This tiger is the son of BMW of pench said to be 2.5 years old which died due to poisoning in January of 2016. This animal is not included.


Pench NP, India
200+ kg. n=1. Reference: Majumder, 2012. This tiger exceeded a scale of 200 kg, weight was estimated to be upto 220 kg. Not included in final average.

The average comes to 223 kg's (492 lb), n=30

Good information, I appreciate your updates.

Just like a side note, the table that I made, using only the 21 males from scientific documents and corroborated news reports, I got an average of 220 kg (range= 184 - 261 kg), which is a diference of only 3 kg. For females, I have an average of 137 kg (n=29, range=106 - 177 kg).

That means that even excludind 9 males, the change is not as dramatic as we can think.

Just one question, did you include the male of 345 kg from Pilibhit?

Guys, there's something peculiar about the work of Smith et al. that was quoted by Raúl Valvert (https://www.scribd.com/document/55287778...from_embed). Valvert stated that the heaviest wild male Bengal tigers in his work were from Chitwan National Park in Nepal, with average weights of 221 kg (487 pounds) on adjusted bellies, and that these were figures for 7 male tigers from the work of Smith et al. and Sunquist:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Smith et al. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3808080?ori...b_contents) said that between 1973 and 1980, 154 attempts to capture tigers had been made, with tigers being seen on 109 attempts. They gave a table on the tigers, including their age groups and numbers: 7 cubs, 4 subadult females, 19 adult females (altogether 23 subadult and adult females), 12 subadult males, and 7 adult males (altogether 19 subadult and adult males), and altogether, these are 49 tigers in the table, but then they said that a total of 26 tigers (15 males and 11 females) were immobilized, with 15 of them having been recaptured 1–4 times, and then that the tigers were immobilized and successfully located on 49 occasions.

How is this contradiction possible? 26 tigers being recorded on 49 occasions doesn't mean 49 tigers being recorded altogether (which is what the table says).

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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