CHARACTERISTICS & HABITAT
The heaviest male Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarban mangrove forests can weigh up to 140 kilograms (although they do not always get this large) and can measure a full 10 feet from snout to tail. Naturally (like most mammalian species), the females tend to invariably weigh and measure less than their male counterparts. Old Pachabdi once told me that he had killed 1 particularly large man eater in 1966 (in the Buri Goalini forest range) which measured a full 12 feet from snout to tail. I seeabsolutely no reason whatsoever to question his credibility and his integrity, but according to official records made during my 2 terms as the Divisional Forest Officer of the Sundarbans…. 10 feet is the largest recorded length of a Royal Bengal tiger which I personally know of.
The predominant natural food of the Royal Bengal tiger is the Axis deer and the Bengal bush boar, both of which are found by the hundreds of thousands all over the Sundarbans. A Royal Bengal tiger suffering from some sort of pathology will feed on either livestock from nearby settled territories or even human beings. It takes a Royal Bengal tiger 2 meals to complete feeding on an Axis deer, a bullock or a human being. It completes feeding on a Bengal bush boar or a calf or a goat in one single meal.
A Royal Bengal tiger invariably attacks it’s prey from either the rear or from the sides. Never from the front. They are extremely fast and aggressive ( even more so than their Indian, Nepalese, Indo Chinese or Siberian counterparts). They are incredibly agile and powerful swimmers. They have incredibly keen eyesight and hearing, but are (contrary to popular belief) extremely deficient in their sense of smell. Prior to making a kill, a Royal Bengal tiger will always clean it’s claws on the barks of nearby trees.
When I studied “Principles of Forestry” in the University of Peshawar, I was taught that the tigers of North Bengal only return to feed on the carcasses of their partially eaten prey after evening. In the Sundarbans however, I have observed Royal Bengal tigers to feed on their natural quarry (Axis deer and Bengal bush boars) during all times of the day. However, when a (pathological) Royal Bengal tiger kills a human being or a bullock and partially feeds on the corpse, then they will invariably return to the kill-sites to complete their feeding after sunset.
Royal Bengal tigers may be found roaming in the wild all across the Sundarban mangrove forest, barring the Shoronkhola forest range (which now serves as a tourist location and wildlife sanctuary). They will be found anywhere their pugmarks can be seen on the ground and their claw marks may be found on tree barks.
It is interesting to note that the Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans weigh almost half as much as their Indian, Nepalese, Indo-Chinese and Siberian counterparts. There are 2 reasons for this. Royal Bengal tigers in other parts of the world feed on massive animals such as the Sambar deer and the Nilgai. In the Sundarban mangrove forests however, the tigers feed on the relatively smaller Axis deer and Bengal bush boars. Thousands of years of evolution has caused them to have lighter frames than tigers from other parts of the world (which aids them in swimming through the thousands of canals which run through the entirety of these mangrove forests and contributes to their immense speed). The second reason is the same reason why the Axis deer inhabiting the Sundarbans grow to smaller sizes than Axis deer found in other parts of the world (such as India, Nepal, Indo China, Australia and the U.S.A.)- The saltwater found everywhere in the Sundarbans impacts their growth.
In 1977, President Ziaur Rahman released 6 pairs of Axis deer (captured from the Sundarbans) into Monpura in the southern part of the country. Today, thousands may be found in the region. They have been studied to achieve weights in adulthood, which exceed those of their Sundarban counterparts by at least 15 kilograms on average. The reasons for this, was discovered to be: a) Due to the absence of Royal Bengal tigers in Monpura (who feed on Axis deer in the Sundarbans), the Axis deer were being able to grow to larger sizes since they do not have any natural predators save for human hunters (who by law, are permitted to shoot only 2 fully grown stags per year). b) The water in and around Monpura is fresh instead of being salty.
While Royal Bengal tigers (on account of their ferocity) were never released into any other part of South Bengal (barring the Sundarbans where they naturally dwell) where fresh water can be found, if one applies the same analogy to what occurred with the Axis deer released into Monpura … The theory stands that they would grow to sizes as large as their foreign counterparts.
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The Author (Left) With Son & Son’s Friend On Axis Deer Hunt (1991)
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The Author (Right) Accompanied By Assistant Range Officer Sitesh With Bengal Bush Boar Shot For Royal Bengal Tiger Bait (1988)
I worked the southeastern us Florida to Arkansas we call them swamp puppies
