Thailand's Tigers

Description: Tigers, Panthera tigris, in fossil form have been found as far north as the Arctic Circle, and the tiger probably reached the tropics only during relatively recent times. The subspecies found in Thailand, P.t. corbetti, is said to be smaller than the typical form, with darker ground coloration and more numerous, rather short, narrow and rarely doubled stripes.

Distribution: From Siberia to the Caspian Sea, India, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Java and Bali.

Habitat and Behavior: Tigers are found in a very wide range of habitat types, their only requirements being sufficient game, water and shelter from the sun. Their range is quite variable; under ideal conditions, a tiger may stay within an area of 100 square kilometers, but some may wander as wide as 4500 sq. km. In a single night of unsuccessful hunting, a tiger may cover as much as 15-30 kilometers. According to report, Tigers exhibit a wide varity of land tenure patterns - from exclusive use of an area that seems to be defended against others, to peaceful sharing of ranges, to lack of ranges. In some areas a tiger appears to have a more or less permanent abode to which it returns each day.

Tigers are seldom found in pairs, the usual group being a mother and her young; however they are somewhat social animals and a few adults may come together for short periods of time, especially where their ranges overlap. They are able to keep in contact through smell and sound. It is reportedthat 9 distict vocalizations can be identified: "prusten" (a gentle puffing sound make by expelling air in rapidly repeating jets through the nostrils), "pooking" (similar to the call of the sambar deer), purring, grunting, miaowing, woofing, moaning and roaring, growling, snarling, and hissing; and a coughing roar. Unlike many cats, tigers seem quite fond of water, and are capable swimmers; on particularly hot days they may spend several hours in a pool.

Diet: Tigers will hunt almost any available animal food: from fish to locusts, tortoises, porcupines, other tigers and man, but their favorite prey in Thailand seems to be wild pig and deer. Tigers begin to eat their prey at the hindquarters and may consume over 25 kg in one night, though the average daily consumption is closer to 6-7 kg.

Tigers usually start hunting in the early evening. A tiger will stalk within 10-25 meters of his prey before charging from the side or behind, grabbing a hold of the prey with his claws and biting it on the throat to strangle it. Under normal conditions tigers leave man strickly alone but driven by old age, sickness or injury, a tiger may try to prey on man. Once a tiger learns how easy man is to kill it may become habituated to eating human flesh, and teach the habit to its offspring. Estimates are that there are only 3-4 maneaters for each thousand tigers, and since there are probably less than 500 tigers left in Thailand, the chances of meeting a maneater are rather remote.

Reproduction: A female tiger comes into heat about every 50 days, and stays in estrous about 5 days; during this perion she is very vocal, active and restless, advertising her condition to any males in the area. The male joins the female for breeding and may stay with her until she conceives. A litter of 1-7 is born after a gestation of 100-108 days. Infant mortality is high and a female is seldom accompanied by more than two cubs. The mother teaches the cubs how to hunt and kill, sometimes disabling the prey for her offspring to kill. The cub becomes independant at at the age of 1-2 years, females staying with the mother somewhat longer than males. A tiger becomes sexually mature by the age of 3-4. Normally the female raises a litter of two cubs about every two years, and since a female can be productive for as long as 10 years, she can add 10 tigers to the population, under optimum conditions.

Threats to Survival: All subspecies of tiger are included on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species; the populations in west Asia, Java and Bali may be extinct or nearly so, and all other forms are rapidly declining. P.t. corbetti is probably the least rare, estimates state that there may be as many as 500 tigers in Thailand.

Source: "Mammals of Thailand" by Boonsong Lekagul & Jeffrey A. McNeely