i 2 6 THE INDIAN FAUNA 



Assam, it lives in burrows made by itself, and resembles in its habits the common 



Indian species. A third kind, the Bengal porcupine (H. bengalensis), is found in 



lower Bengal, Sikhim, Assam, and Arakan, and probably throughout Burma. 



Among the numerous Indian beasts-of-prey the first place is 

 Tiger. ...... 



undoubtedly held by the tiger (Felis tigris), which inhabits the whole 



of India, Burma, and the rest of south-eastern Asia, including Java and Sumatra, 



although unknown in Ceylon and Borneo. Its habitat likewise includes a very 



large portion of China and an extensive area in central and western Asia. It is 



found, for instance, in the district around Lob Nor, in the Altai, the Amur valley, 



around Lake Aral on the southern shores of the Caspian, and in the Caucasus, but 



is quite unknown in Tibet, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and those districts of Persia 



which lie south of the Elburz Mountains. 



Formerly the tiger was an inhabitant of almost every Indian forest and jungle, 



but in the last thirty or forty years its numbers have been greatly reduced, and in 



some districts it is now very rare, and in others, such as many parts of Bengal and 



near Bombay, exterminated. It is still abundant in the forests at the foot of the 



Himalaya, in the western Punjab and upper Sind it is rare, and from lower Sind 



and Kach it has disappeared. The Javan tiger (F. tigris sondaica) forms a race 



different from the Indian, and the long-haired Manchurian tiger (F. tigris 



mongolica), as well as the Persian tiger (F. tigris virgata), are likewise distinct 



races. In size the tiger is quite equal to the lion, its length varying from 102 



to 114 inches, inclusive of the tail, which measures about 36 inches. Much larger 



tigers are, however, occasionally met with, a few of these being over 10 feet long 



from nose to tail-end. The average weight of a male tiger is from 390 to 420 lbs. ; 



that of a large tigress is about 265 lbs. 



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The general appearance of the tiger is well known. It is one of the cats with 

 round pupils to the eyes ; the full-grown males have a fairly well-developed ruff 

 beginning behind the ears and extending round the sides of the neck. The fur is 

 short and close, but varies in length, thickness, and colour according to season and 

 country. The tail, which tapers towards the end, has no terminal tuft like that of 

 the lion. Of all the cross-striped cats the tiger is the most distinctly marked. Its 

 head and body are barred with broad vertical black st? Ipes and there are black 

 rings round the tail ; the ground-colour of the back and sides varies from pale rufous 

 to dark brownish yellow, but the lower-parts are always white. Tigers inhabiting 

 the forests of the north are darker and redder than those of the more open jungles 

 of central and southern India. The cubs, which are born striped, are always 

 lighter in colour than their parents. Like leopards and other cats, tigers are some- 

 times black and occasionally white. 



Tigers pair for life, and breed at any season of the year. About fourteen or 

 fifteen weeks after pairing there are born from two to five or even six cubs, which 

 the tigress is said to hide from the tiger, although in rare cases male tigers have 

 been seen in the company of females and cubs. The latter remain with their 

 mother until they have reached a fair size, and when several tigers are found 

 together, it is generally a family party. The cubs are fully grown when they are 

 three years old, and as even full-grown tigers are accompanied at times by their 

 mother, it is thought that in the wild state tigresses have a litter every three 



