Tiger

Panther tigris tigris

The tiger, also called the Bengal tiger, is the largest member of the cat family. There are nine subspecies of tiger of which five survive today. The tiger is India’s national animal. Males and females are similar looking with a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter under parts. They have exceptionally stout teeth, and their canines are the longest among living cats. They are territorial and generally solitary, animal often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey which consist mainly of large mammals such as Sambar, Chital, Barasingha wild pig and Nilgai. Threast faced by the tiger include habitat loss, decline in prey base leading to conflict with humans and poaching. Their numbers have decline to 1706 (vide a cansus conductes in 2011) from 4,000 about ten years ago. Uttarakhand  currently supports a healthy tiger population of approximately 250 tiger, most of which are confined to Corbett tiger reserve and its adjoining forests.