Today, there are only six species of tigers on the planet, biologists, although not so long ago there were much more. But the gradual reduction of forest areas and ruthless hunting for rare animals will inevitably lead to a reduction in the population of these amazing and unique wild predators. The Bengal tiger is also recognized as an endangered species and is even listed in the Red Book, which does not prevent the indigenous people of the East from appreciating the luxurious skin of this royal predator and making amulets from its fangs.
In nature, this species of tigers lives in the forests of India, Burma and Nepal, but in captivity it can be found in various parts of the globe. Most often in the zoos lives a subspecies of the Bengal tiger - a white tiger. And, most surprisingly, all white individuals that live today are descended from one tiger cub, found in 1951 by Indian Maharajas during a hunt. This famous Bengal tiger nicknamed Mohan lived for a long time in the palace of Maharaja, and he could not get for a long time to get the appearance of the same rare cubs. There was no white female in the palace, and crossbreeding with traditional red tigresses gave exceptionally red head offspring. But once Mohan was crossed with one of his daughters, and from this union the long-awaited tiger cubs with white skin were born, which gradually gained popularity, and now they can be found in almost all major zoos in the world.
In nature, only yellow or red Bengal tigers are found, since white ones are too noticeable and their existence in the wild makes them too vulnerable. All attempts to release a white tiger in the wild invariably ended in failure.
Regardless of color, all tigers of this species are unusually large - they have exceeded in weight even the famous giant - the Ussuri tiger. The maximum weight that was recorded by biologists is 388.7 kilograms, which is almost 5 kilograms more than their largest Ussuri counterpart. At the same time, despite ancient legends, the largest tiger in the world rarely hunts people, although, of course, meeting it in the wild can be dangerous. Most tigers prefer large artiodactyls - roe deer, wild boars or deer - the unconditional favorites in their menu.
But at the same time, most regal predators do not disdain even much smaller prey - rabbits, frogs and even termites may well become their dinner.
In addition to size, the Bengal tiger differs from its counterparts in many other respects. His life expectancy is considered a record - some individuals survived to 30 years, which is a rarity for a predator. And their individual territory can reach as much as 3,000 square kilometers. Biologists explain such a large "personal space" by the fact that the Bengal tiger prefers loneliness. The female and the male meet only for the period of mating, later on they again disperse in their territories - the mother does not allow the father to the process of raising the cubs.
Calm, strong and unusually smart, these predators have long been in the East, and especially in China, symbols of wisdom and strength. Some modern linguists even explain the origin of the hieroglyph denoting power and power by the interweaving of the lines on the forehead of a Bengal tiger. But, unfortunately, this did not bring any benefit to the tiger itself - it was because of this hieroglyph that many of them became victims of poachers, because the skin marked with a similar sign is considered sacred and valued unusually high.
Today, the Bengal tiger is not only protected by the Red Book - activists of many environmental and "green" organizations are fighting for the conservation of the species, and the authorities of India, Burma and Nepal are constantly tightening the punishment for killing this magnificent predator.