Indochinese Tiger

Panthera Tigris Corbetti, the Indochinese Tiger is slightly darker in color than the average Bengal Tiger, having an ocher coloration with narrow stripes that often break up into a row of spots, and...

Panthera Tigris Corbetti, the Indochinese Tiger is slightly darker in color than the average Bengal Tiger, having an ocher coloration with narrow stripes that often break up into a row of spots, and are less prominent on front legs. Underparts and inside of legs, chin and cheeks are white. Whiskers, treasured by Chinese pharmacies, are more prominent in males.

A resident of dense forests and hilly terrains, the Indochinese Tiger is a solitary and nocturnal feline. Not much is known about this big cat owing to the remoteness of its habitat and the unstable political climate across most of its range that has prevented researchers to gain access to its terrain to study it until recently. It is believed to be quite strong and capable of taking even baby elephants as prey animals. Usually they hunt antelope, wild boar and buffalo though they have been known to supplement their diet with birds, fish, monkeys and reptiles. At times the Corbett's tiger has been documented to kill bears, leopards and even other tigers.

Indochinese Tiger is seen in the mountainous border regions of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The shaded red area show their current range that has shrunk drastically over the past century and the tiger is now recorded in scattered parts across these countries, segregated by human population and thus suffering from inbreeding with its adverse genetic short and long term consequences.

The tigers communicate by vocalizations and calling in the mating season. They stay together during the courtship after which the male moves on. Female gives birth to a litter of two to three cubs after a pregnancy lasting one hundred and three days on average. The cubs gain maturity by two years of age. Lifespan on average is fifteen years.

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