The Majestic Bengal Tiger

Read more about the Bengal Tiger

       If you have read the Jungle Book you will remember that the tiger plays the part of the villain in the jungles and forests of India. The tiger is the villain, especially to the plant-eating animals on which he preys and of course to the smaller creatures of the forest and plain. Old male tigers may even become known as man-eaters.  A male tiger usually lives by himself in one particular area in the jungle and is as familiar with the paths, trees, and streams as you might be with your nearest park. He knows where his favorite food animals graze, and upon awakening he travels stealthily to the spot. His hunting foray usually does not begin until after dark, for then it is easier for him to keep hidden and the game may be much more easily approached. Besides this, the watchful monkeys, who noisily warn all animals of the jungle when a tiger is approaching, are fast asleep in the trees.

       Perhaps the tiger sights a tender young deer. Long before the deer sees him (because tigers are able to see in very dim light), he sinks close to the ground and creeps forward on the soft pads that cover the bottoms of his feet. Suddenly, with a rush, he leaps upon his prey, his strong claws and teeth and powerfully muscled frame making this attack on a weak deer swift and easy; wild pigs and water buffaloes, which he sometimes attacks, are stronger enemies and occasionally the tiger may be wounded or even killed.

      Once the tiger's prey is brought down he crouches beside it and beginning at the hind quarters proceeds to eat toward the head. He crunches the flesh with his sharp back teeth, his rough tongue helping to clean the last morsel from each greasy bone. He may feed for as long as six or eight hours.

       His hunger satisfied, he drags the remains of his meal into the underbrush to hide it from crows and vultures until he returns. Then he starts for the nearest watering place. After he has lapped the water he sets off for a cool, secluded spot where he may rest during the day. His path follows the easiest course‚ a dry stream bed up a low hill. On the way he may come face to face with a wild pig; each sees the other at the same time. The tiger hesitates, but he is already gorged with deer, and a full-grown pig is often a match for a well-fed, lazy tiger. So the tiger moves aside and the pig warily edges around him and escapes. The tiger proceeds up the dry creek bed and drops sleepily to the cool sand between the fern-edged banks. His striped body hides him perfectly, for it blends with the shadows cast by the long fern fronds.

       The tigress is busy, too, for she has two babies to protect and feed. She must also teach them to hunt; so shortly after dark she rouses the cubs, who are lively and hungry, rolling and scratching as they play. The three start off through the night, the cubs following their mother closely. They mimic her every movement. One cub carelessly brushes against the tall dry grass, causing a slight rustle. Its mother turns and cuffs it hard on the head, for cubs must learn to move without a sound when they are hunting. The tigress stops suddenly for she has seen a victim, a doe, romping with her fawns over a grassy opening surrounded by dense jungle. The tigers creep closer and lie in wait. As the deer's play brings them closer, the tigress rushes from her ambush and brings down the careless doe. The fawns run wildly away, each pursued by a young tiger, but a well-grown cub is too swift for a fawn. A few long leaps, and the baby tigers have made their first kill. Another year of learning to hunt with their mother and they will know the methods of stalking and the cunning which will enable them to get their living.

       The Bengal Tiger is so-called from the State of Bengal in northern India, where it is abundant. It is found throughout southeastern Asia. There are other tigers, both larger and smaller, ranging from Siberia to Java and Sumatra. The tigers are members of the cat family. Woods.

Big Cats - Behind the scenes fo Swamp tiger 

in Sunderbans by Kalyan Varma.