All about India: The Tiger!

All about India is the space where we cover something about India or Indians that you wouldn’t have known. The National Animal of India is the Tiger. Known for its majestic beauty and royalty, the striped beauty is a favourite among the young and the old. Today, in ‘All about India’, we give you some very unusual and startling facts about the Tiger.

1. Tigers have eyes with round pupils, unlike domestic cats, which have slitted pupils. This is because domestic cats are nocturnal whereas tigers are crepuscular – they hunt primarily in the morning and evening.
2. Despite not being strongly adapted to the dark, tigers’ night vision is about six times better than humans’.
3. Most tigers have yellow eyes, but white tigers usually have blue eyes, due to the gene for blue eyes being linked to the gene for white fur. The gene for being cross-eyed, or boss-eyed, is also linked, so many white tigers have crossed blue eyes.
4. Male tigers have larger territories than females, so that the areas overlap and the tigers can mate. Adult female territories generally never overlap with those of other adult females, and adult male territories do not overlap with those of other adult males.
5. Tigers do not normally roar at other animals, but instead they roar to communicate with far-off tigers. A tiger about to attack will therefore not roar, but might hiss and fuff instead.
6. When several tigers are present at a kill, the males will often wait for females and cubs to eat first, unlike lions, which do the opposite. Tigers rarely argue or fight over a kill and simply wait turns.
7. The stripes on each tiger are unique, like human fingerprints.
8. The markings on a tiger’s forehead closely resemble the Chinese character for king, giving tigers a cultural status as a regal animal.
9. Just like housecats, the markings on a tiger’s fur are also found on their skin, so even a shaved tiger would still show its stripes.
10. Unlike almost all other big cats, tigers are adept swimmers. They enjoy bathing and often play in the water when young. As adults, they often swim several kilometers to hunt or to cross rivers, and at least one has been recorded to have swum almost 30km in a day.
11. Tigers are the largest of all cats, but also have the most variability in size. The largest subspecies, the Siberian tiger, grows to over 3.5m long with a mass of over 300k. The smallest subspecies, the Sumatran tiger, is only around 2m long and 100kg when fully-grown.
12. Tigresses are fertile for a period of only four or five days throughout the entire year. During this time, they mate frequently. They are pregnant for a little over three months, and usually give birth to two or three cubs.
13. Tigers are completely blind for the first week of their life. About half do not survive to adulthood.
14. Tigers can sprint at over 60km/h for short distances.
15. Although tigers can comfortably fast for several days, they starve more quickly than other animals due to their immense size. A tiger will starve to death in only two or three weeks, whereas humans take 30-40 days.