English: White Bengal Tiger Panthera tigris tigris at Cincinnati Zoo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Male bengal tiger – not too disturbed by the elephant (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Panthera tigris tigris, Bengal Tiger, Indischer Tiger oder Königstiger (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
- 2 Bengal tigers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Bengal tiger(panthera tigris tigris)is the national animal of India and Bangladesh.The Bengal tiger is the most numerous sub-species with population estimated at 1706 to 1909 in India and 440 in Bangladesh.Bengal is traditionally fixed as the typical locality for the binomial panthera tigris.
Since 2010, it has been classified as an endangered species by ICUN.The total population is estimated at 2500 individuals with a decreasing trend,none of the conservation within the Bengal tiger’s range is large enough to support an effective population size of 250 adult individuals.
Bangladesh tiger,(panthera tigris,tigris) is the national animal of Bangladesh.All these tigers can be found in Sundarbans,the mangrove forest located south-west of the country.As of 2004 population estimates in Bangladesh ranged from 200 to 419, mostly in the Sundarbans.This region is the only mangrove habitat in this bio-region,where tigers survive,swimming between islands to the delta to hunt prey.From October 2005 to January 2007,the first camera trap survey was conducted across six sites in the Bangladesh Sundarbans to estimate tiger population density. The average of these six sites is 3.7 tigers per 100 km2(39 sq miles) It was inferred that the tiger population was approximately 200 individuals.
Bengal tigers have been known to take predators,such as leopards,wolves,jackals,foxes,crocodiles and Asiatic black bears as prey.Over the past century the number of tigers have fallen dramatically,with a decreasing population trend..None of the conservation trend within the Bengal tiger range is large enough to support an effective population size of 250 individuals.Habitat losses and the extremely large scale poaching are serious threats to the survival of the tigers.The Bengal Tiger’s coat is yellow to light orange ,with stripes ranging from dark brown to black;the belly and interior parts of the limbs are white,and the tail is orange with black rings.Male Bengal tigers have an average length of 270 to 310 cm including the tail,females measure 240 to 265 cm on average.The average weight of males is 488 pounds.While that of females is 308 pounds.
The sundarbans tiger project is a Bangladesh Forest Department initiative.It started in 2005. From research base the project is evolving rapidly.It has also done well due to the incredible support of the Bangladeshi people.
Today we decided to read about the Bengal tigers.Gepetto enjoyed knowing about them.He was sad to know that the tiger population is decreasing.He has planned to do a project on Bengal tigers.His parents and I were happy to note he was taking a keen interest.
We all loved reading about the tigers and their habitat,we hope the government will take effective measures to prevent the decline of the population of these beautiful tigers.
From my friends,Alphie,Susan and of course Gepetto the great,a very warm good bye to our equally amazing friends,without whose encouragement,we would not have been able to be so successful.Thank you.
Allah Hafiz, And May God Bless You!
Sabethville 