Watching a tiger in the wild is an amazing feeling. The tiger commands respect and you just cant help but fall in love with it :)

Bengal tiger

The tiger is the largest and heaviest of the cat family and much feared by other animals and humans alike. The Bengal tiger has the classic orange and black tigers coat.The stripes provide brilliant camouflage against dappled light and shade.It has excellent eyesight and earing ,which helps it track animals in the dark.Tigers kill their prey by biting the back of its neck or throat, and then dragging it into the thick cover to feed.They hunt at night and rest during the day.
Male tigers find females by their roars and scent marks .The females give birth to her cubs( 2 -4) in a den. She rears them on her own and once they are about 2 months they are ready to brave the world.They usually stay with their mothers till their the age of 2.
Tigers love water and often bathe or cool off in rivers and pools during the day.tigers mark their territory with scent markings, droppoings and scratch marks on trees or rocks.. these signals tell other tigers about its sex and size as well as its territory. Tigers also communicate by moaning and roaring. They defend their territory fiercerly.

STATISTICS
STATUS: ENDANGERED.
LENGTH:1.4-2.8M
TAIL: 60 CM-1M
WEIGHT:UPTO 220 KG
SEXUAL MATURITY: FEMALE -3-4 YRS
MALE :4-5 YRS.
BREEDING SEASON : NOV-APRIL.
GESTATION PERIOD: 95-112 DAYS.

-DID YOU KNOW THAT THE PEOPLE IN SUNDARBANDS DETER TIGER ATTACKS BY WEARING A MASK DEPICTING A FACE ON THE BACK OF THEIR HEADS ,AS TIGERS NORMALLY ATTACK FROM BEHIND.

-In the hindu religion the godess durga rides a tiger.

The latest updates on the wildlife front are very upsetting and shocking. The second deadly blow to the tigers in the wild. Panna Tiger Reserve has gone the sariska way. All the tigers have been poached. Apparantly a healthy tiger from the banipur/nagarhole range was relocated to Bhadra and in the absence of proper wildlife vets she was given an extra dosage of anesthesia and died. It is shocking and terribly upsetting because even though there has been such publicity on conserving our last few tigers their numbers are still falling. POaching is the main threat in these cases. read the following links.

http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/india-tigers/paul-kvinta-text

An NGO called Tiger Watch has done remarkable work in saving the tigers of Ranthambhore. It truely shows us how one mans will and passion can make such a difference.

http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/india-tigers/tom-pietrasik-photography