Bengal Tiger

 

 

 

 Previously it was considered the second largest subspecies, behind the Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), however a recent study suggests that maybe this subspecies could be, on average, the largest of the tigers. The total length for the males is of 270-310 cm meanwhile those of the females is of 240–265 cm; the tail measures 85–110 cm long and the height at the shoulder is 90–110 cm. The average weight is 221.2 kg (487.7 lb) for the males and 139.7 kg (308 lb) for the females, however those who inhabit the north of India and Nepal have an average weight of 235 kg (518 lb) for the males and 140 kg (308.6 lb) for the females. Its coat is a yellow to light orange, and the stripes range from dark brown to black; the belly is white, and the tail is white with black rings. A mutation of the Bengal subspecies, the white tiger, have dark brown or reddish brown stripes on a white background color, and some are entirely white. Black tigers have tawny, yellow or white stripes on a black background color. The skin of a black tiger, recovered from smugglers, measured 259 cm and was displayed at the National Museum of Natural History, in New Delhi. The existence of black tigers without stripes has been reported but not substantiated.
Officially, the heaviest Bengal tiger with confirmed weight was a male of 258.6 kg (570 lbs) and was shot in Northern India in 1938, however, the heaviest males captured by scientists at this time are two tigers (M105 and M026) of more than 270 kg (600 lb), tagged in Nepal in 1984. The largest known Bengal tiger, measured between pegs, was a male with a head and body length of 221 cm, 150 cm of chest girth, a shoulder height of 109 cm and a tail of just 81 cm, perhaps bitten off by a rival male. This specimen could not be weighed, but it was calculated to weigh no less than 272 kg.[ Finally, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the heaviest tiger known was a huge male hunted in 1967, it measured 322 cm in total length between pegs (338 cm over curves) and weighed 388.7 kg (857 lb). This specimen was hunted in the north of India by David Hasinger and is actually on exhibition in the Smithsonian Institution, in the Mammals Hall.