Royal Bengal Tiger
Royal Bengal Tiger, the largest of all Asian big cats, is one of Nepal’s tourist attractions, especially Bardia and Chitwan National Park. They can be differentiated easily because of their unique strips. The weight of males ranges from 180 to 258 kg (397 to 569 lb), while that of the females ranges from 100 to 160 kg (220 to 350 lb). Males have an average total length of 270 to 310 cm (110 to 120 in) including the tail, while females measure 240 to 265 cm (94 to 104 in) on average.
Hunting and Diet
This big carnivorous animal searches for various prey like gaur, water buffalo, sambar. Chital or mottled deer, wild boar, and many other species of deer. They mainly search for medium or large prey but also occasionally consume small prey such as rabbits. Bengal tigers can eat around 40 kilograms of food on a single occasion, though they consume a smaller amount. Sometimes these tigers use their brain to hunt for food as they cannot follow prey for long distances. They use a strategy that combines stealth and camouflage. In the sunlight, the tiger hides in the tall grass to stalk an animal. Camouflage can be so effective that the unsuspecting prey can be just a few meters away from the tiger. When it is ready, it attacks silently by the side or behind the victim, jumps quickly, and strikes with a blow with its retractable claws or a bite in the neck. Then drag the animal several meters to consume it or can even transport the body through to the water.
Reproduction and Lifecycle
The Bengal tigers have no definite mating and birth seasons. Mostly birth occurs in December and April but it has also been found in March, May, October, and November. Males reach maturity at 4–5 years of age, and females at 3–4 years. After a gestation period of 104–106 days, 1–4 cubs are born in a shelter situated in tall grass, thick bush, or caves. Newborn cubs weigh 780 to 1,600 g (1.72 to 3.53 lb) and they have thick wooly fur that is shed after 3.5–5 months. They follow their mother on her hunting expeditions and begin to take part in hunting at 5–6 months of age before that they suckle and eat small amounts of solid food. At the age of 2–3 years, they slowly start to separate from the family group and start looking out for an area to establish their own territory. Young males move further away from their mother’s territory than young females. Once the family group has split, the mother comes into the heat again.
Mission TX2
The government aims at doubling the country’s tiger population by 2022, and in May 2010, decided to establish Banke National Park with a protected area of 550 square kilometers (210 sq mi), which bears the good potential for tiger habitat. It is protected in Chitwan National Park, Bardiya National Park, Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve, and Parsa Wildlife Reserve. After the establishment of Banke National Park in 2010, the conservation of tigers in Bardia and other National Park has been more effective. On the occasion of National Conservation Day 2018(September 23), Nepal announced that there are now an estimated 235 wild tigers in the country, nearly doubling the baseline of around 121 tigers in 2009. If these trends continue, Nepal could become the first country to double its national tiger population since the ambitious TX2 goal – to double the world’s wild tiger population by 2022 – was set at the St Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010.