The tiger is the most graceful and graceful beastbelonging to the cat family. Many people at the sight of this amazing animal imagination have a question: “And what is the biggest tiger in the world?”.
The largest species of tigers
This animal is extremely frightening.sizes that may vary depending on its subspecies. The question of which is the largest tiger in the world is unambiguously impossible to answer. After all, there are several varieties, the dimensions of which leave a strong impression.
На сегодняшний день считается, что самые большие tigers in the world belong to two subspecies. True, more recently, their rivals appeared in size. These are the so-called ligers, which occurred in the process of crossing the two largest felines.
Among the subspecies created by nature are the mostThe biggest tigers in the world are the Bengali and Amur tigers. They almost do not differ in size and weight. Although it is worth noting that the largest tiger in the world was killed in 1967 in North India. This was officially recognized as the highest in nature, because the weight of the killed male reached 388.7 kg!
Bengal tiger
Representatives of this subspecies can be found inPakistan, Northern and Central India, in Eastern Iran, Bangladesh, Manyama, Bhutan, Nepal and in the vicinity adjacent to the mouths of the Ganges, Satlidzh, Rabvi, Indus. It is not only the largest tiger in the world, but also the most numerous among the living subspecies. They are a little less than 2.5 thousand individuals.
Средний вес самца бенгальского тигра варьируется depending on habitat. The highest results in the modern world are noted in Nepal. On average, the male pulls out there on 235 kg. But it was there that the “record holder” was noticed - the biggest tiger in the world, whose weight reached 320 kg.
Amur tiger
This subspecies has many other names: Ussuri, Far East, Manchu or Siberian. As already mentioned, it is believed that this is the largest tiger in the world.
Dimensions of this representative of the cat familyvery impressive. For example, if he gets on his hind legs, then his height will be up to 3.5-4 m! The weight of such individuals may vary. Thus, the stable weight of the Amur tiger is 250 kg. But among them there are outstanding individuals.
Siberian tiger in appearance somewhatdiffers from its counterparts living in warm countries. He has a less bright red color, and his coat is very thick. In addition, there is a layer of fat on his belly, which allows him to feel comfortable in frosty winters.
The Far Eastern tiger living in captivity can live for more than 25 years. In freedom, his age rarely exceeds 15.
Caring for the preservation of endangered subspecies
In nature, the Amur tigers are extremely few. There are several reasons for this. Among them:
- active destruction of animals by people who hunt them because of their fur;
- the extinction of the Amur tigers from the plague to which carnivores are subject;
- cutting down the taiga, where tigers can live free and multiply;
- reducing the number of ungulates, which are the staple food of these predators;
- identical DNA in surviving individuals, leading to the emergence of weak and often unviable offspring.
Today this situation is under control.Now, reserves and zoos are actively engaged in breeding these graceful animals, and their name has been entered into the Red Book of Russia. According to the latest estimates, no more than 500 individuals remain of the Amur tigers.
Ligre
As noted earlier, in nature there arehybrids obtained by crossing individuals of different species. Such a measure was taken by the owners of zoos in order to impress visitors, increasing their number and profits. But these attempts were not always crowned with success, and the percentage of luck was only 1-2. Crossing of lions with tigresses resulted in quite interesting and large hybrids.
The male ligra is much larger, even the Bengali andAmur tiger. Its weight can reach 400 kg even in the case when the individual is not at all obese. The height of the male standing on his hind legs is about 4 m.
In appearance, ligers resemble cave lions,which became extinct about 10 thousand years ago. They owe such large dimensions to the DNA of their ancestors, because the lions and tigresses during mating activate the gene that is responsible for growth.
The most important feature of hybrids lion and tigressconsists in the fact that their females have the ability to bear children. So, there are two more types - liligry and taligry. The first is bred as a result of crossing a female liger and a male lion, and the second when mating a female liger and a male tiger.
Breeding such an unusual large speciesThe American Association of Zoos and Aquariums strongly disapprove. After all, today it is necessary to concentrate on preserving the endangered species of tigers, and not trying hard to break the record in the nomination "The biggest tiger in the world."
