The Bengal tiger: India’s national animal
India is a country rich in culture, history and biodiversity. Among its many natural wonders, one of the most iconic and majestic is the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), the national animal of India. The Bengal tiger is a symbol of strength, courage and grace, and represents the spirit of India’s independence and diversity.
The Bengal tiger is the most common subspecies of tiger and is found only in the Indian subcontinent, mainly in India, but also in Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. It is one of the largest and most powerful predators in the world, with an average weight of 200 kg for males and 140 kg for females. It has a thick yellow coat of fur with black stripes that help it camouflage in its forest habitat. It can run up to 65 km/h and leap up to 10 m in a single bound. It is also an excellent swimmer and climber.
The Bengal tiger is a solitary and territorial animal that marks its home range with urine, feces and scratch marks on trees. It prefers to hunt at dawn and dusk, preying mainly on deer, wild boar, buffalo and other large herbivores. It can consume up to 25 kg of meat in one meal. It mates throughout the year, but mostly during winter and spring. The gestation period is about 100 days, after which the female gives birth to two to four cubs in a secluded den. The cubs stay with their mother for about two years, learning how to hunt and survive.
The Bengal tiger faces many threats to its survival, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching for its skin, bones and other body parts, human-wildlife conflict and climate change. According to the latest census in 2018, there are only about 2,967 Bengal tigers left in India, which is about 70% of the global population of tigers. The government of India has taken several measures to protect and conserve this endangered species, such as creating national parks and reserves, banning hunting and trade of tigers and their parts, implementing anti-poaching patrols and awareness campaigns
The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris, is a striped animal. It has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the national animal of India. Out of eight races of the species known, the Indian race, the Royal Bengal Tiger, is found throughout the country except in the north-western region and also in the neighbouring countries, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
To check the dwindling population of tigers in India, Project Tiger was launched in April 1973. So far, 48 tiger reserves have been established in the country under this project, covering an area of 53,547 sq. kms. Population of tigers gone around 2500 in 2016 in country. India is home to 70 percent of tigers in the world.