Mack (Argentina)
Visited: November, 2nd, 02.
Being
a wildlife zealot, I invariably wanted to acquire more information about
animals, especially those royal predators called tigers. During my sojourn
to the different tiger habitats in India I went under an extensive study on
these mammals. The main tiger dwellings in India are Jim Corbett National
Park, Sunderbans, Ranthambore, and Periyar.
During my visit to Jim Corbett National Park one of the main habitat of
tigers, I observed that this stalwart hunter with spiky teeth, powerful jaws
and a nimble body is seldom out for hunt unless it is restless by throbbing
appetite. But when it is hungry there is no spiraling back - it will pedicle
and attack any herbivore that approaches its way, may be a deer, an antelope
or a wild pig. Their sturdy claws can tear the flesh of even buffaloes and
zebras too. It is surprising that this majestic beast sometimes has to
survive on even lizards, birds, turtles, fishes and frogs leaving all their
royalty a side. Normally they come out for during dusk and can shockingly
eat up to 40kgs of flesh as a single meal.
I was absolutely wonder-struck when my guide
encountered me with the fact- a male tiger can grow up to 10 feet in length
and weight up to 260 kg- quite amazing. The female tiger are little shorter
than their males, they grow about to 8.7 feet in length. After a gestation
period of 98-110 days the females give birth to about 4 cubs at a time. In
the wild they live up to the age of 15, but in a protected surroundings they
live for as long as 18 years. It was a bitter truth that due to poaching,
less than 3000 Bengal tigers are left in the wild today.
Wherever I visited, I viewed these tiger ruling a lone existence, each in
its own realm. I really appreciated-by keeping harmony with the prey
population these doughty predators back to persevere the ecological balance.
Its really sad, they are facing the coercion of extinction from the face of
mother earth.
