Matt Boore
Siberian/Amur Tiger - Panthera tigris altaica
Powerful and awe-inspiring, the Siberian tiger is the largest of all cats and, here at Port Lymnpe Wild Animal Park in Kent, never fail to delight visitors of all ages.
HABITAT : The Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is the largest of all cats. They have a very full, and long winter coat making them appear to be extremely stocky. There are more Siberian tigers in captivity than there are in the estimated wild population of 500!
DIET : Occupy the very top of the food chain: tigers eat just about anything they can catch, but nothing eats the tiger.Tigers are strict carnivores. Hunting primarily by sight and sound, they have been known to eat crocodiles, fish, birds, reptiles, and even other predators like leopards and bears. However, the preferred food, without which tiger populations cannot remain healthy, are ungulates - hoofed animals such as deer and wild pigs.Tigers are fed twice a week -- this mimics their hunting success in the wild and also their feeding habits, they tend to consume large quantities of meat in one sitting, store it if possible and return to it again when they are hungry.A tiger's typical diet at our parks includes:- 1/2 of the front or back leg of horse- Also pelvis, rib joints or split head of horse- Fed twice a week, more if with cubs- Size of joint fed depends on size and condition of the cat
CHARACTERISTICS : Largest of all cats, the tiger (Panthera tigris)is one of the most fascinating and fearsome creatures in the world and the Siberian tiger is as larg as they come - a male Siberian tiger may weigh 260 Kg and measure up to 2.8m in length excluding it's tail, which can measure between 69cm-95cm Powerfully built with fierce retractile claws (they can be pulled into the paw, like a house cat's), the Siberian tiger's distinctive gold colouring with black stripes allows it to melt unseen into its environment. The colouring actually ranges from reddish yellow to reddish brown, and both white and "black" tigers have been known to occur in the wild. Tiger stripes are like human fingerprints, no two tigers have the same pattern of stripes.Tigers are usually solitary (but a lot more sociable than the leopard)and come together only to mate (although small groups of probably related adults will associate on occasion).
CONSERVATION: The tragic truth is that tigers are recognised as critically endangered. Thanks to an ever increasing threat of habitat loss and poaching, tigers could be extinct in the wild within the next decade. Wherever you are in the world, you can play an important part in preserving critically endangered animals like these tigers. Urgent action to protect the remaining wild tigers is absolutely vital.Until the 1950s there were eight races of tiger: three are now extinct, and all the others are seriously endangered, as a result of both habitat aloss and indiscriminate hunting.
Efforts are being made to protect wild tigers in a number of countries, but as long as the Chinese - a quarter of the human race - continue to pay high prices for tiger body parts because of their supposed medicinal value, it is hard to see how hunting can ever be totally eradicated.In the wild the Siberian tiger population is said to stand at less than 500 individuals.
The captive breeding programme at Port Lympne and Howletts is essential to the continuation of this magnificent animal. The parks are part of a world-wide programme of controlled, scientifically based captive breeding programmes and the effort that goes towards ensuring endangered animals survive is the ultimate priority. Luckily, tigers breed extremely well in captive conditions, in fact, ironically, Howletts and Port Lympne are having to limit births because of the difficulty of finding suitable homes for surplus cubs.
BREEDING : Gestation lasts about three and a half months. Two or three cubs are normally born. The solitary nature of tigers should not be exaggerated; females are almost always accompanied by cubs and males often relax and feed with their offspring. Unlike most zoos, at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent we even leave the male in with his mate throughout the birth and rearing of cubs.Mating can occur at any time, but usually happens between November and April.
Nikon D5000 "55-200mm"
Comments Welcome
Siberian/Amur Tiger - Panthera tigris altaica
Powerful and awe-inspiring, the Siberian tiger is the largest of all cats and, here at Port Lymnpe Wild Animal Park in Kent, never fail to delight visitors of all ages.
HABITAT : The Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is the largest of all cats. They have a very full, and long winter coat making them appear to be extremely stocky. There are more Siberian tigers in captivity than there are in the estimated wild population of 500!
DIET : Occupy the very top of the food chain: tigers eat just about anything they can catch, but nothing eats the tiger.Tigers are strict carnivores. Hunting primarily by sight and sound, they have been known to eat crocodiles, fish, birds, reptiles, and even other predators like leopards and bears. However, the preferred food, without which tiger populations cannot remain healthy, are ungulates - hoofed animals such as deer and wild pigs.Tigers are fed twice a week -- this mimics their hunting success in the wild and also their feeding habits, they tend to consume large quantities of meat in one sitting, store it if possible and return to it again when they are hungry.A tiger's typical diet at our parks includes:- 1/2 of the front or back leg of horse- Also pelvis, rib joints or split head of horse- Fed twice a week, more if with cubs- Size of joint fed depends on size and condition of the cat
CHARACTERISTICS : Largest of all cats, the tiger (Panthera tigris)is one of the most fascinating and fearsome creatures in the world and the Siberian tiger is as larg as they come - a male Siberian tiger may weigh 260 Kg and measure up to 2.8m in length excluding it's tail, which can measure between 69cm-95cm Powerfully built with fierce retractile claws (they can be pulled into the paw, like a house cat's), the Siberian tiger's distinctive gold colouring with black stripes allows it to melt unseen into its environment. The colouring actually ranges from reddish yellow to reddish brown, and both white and "black" tigers have been known to occur in the wild. Tiger stripes are like human fingerprints, no two tigers have the same pattern of stripes.Tigers are usually solitary (but a lot more sociable than the leopard)and come together only to mate (although small groups of probably related adults will associate on occasion).
CONSERVATION: The tragic truth is that tigers are recognised as critically endangered. Thanks to an ever increasing threat of habitat loss and poaching, tigers could be extinct in the wild within the next decade. Wherever you are in the world, you can play an important part in preserving critically endangered animals like these tigers. Urgent action to protect the remaining wild tigers is absolutely vital.Until the 1950s there were eight races of tiger: three are now extinct, and all the others are seriously endangered, as a result of both habitat aloss and indiscriminate hunting.
Efforts are being made to protect wild tigers in a number of countries, but as long as the Chinese - a quarter of the human race - continue to pay high prices for tiger body parts because of their supposed medicinal value, it is hard to see how hunting can ever be totally eradicated.In the wild the Siberian tiger population is said to stand at less than 500 individuals.
The captive breeding programme at Port Lympne and Howletts is essential to the continuation of this magnificent animal. The parks are part of a world-wide programme of controlled, scientifically based captive breeding programmes and the effort that goes towards ensuring endangered animals survive is the ultimate priority. Luckily, tigers breed extremely well in captive conditions, in fact, ironically, Howletts and Port Lympne are having to limit births because of the difficulty of finding suitable homes for surplus cubs.
BREEDING : Gestation lasts about three and a half months. Two or three cubs are normally born. The solitary nature of tigers should not be exaggerated; females are almost always accompanied by cubs and males often relax and feed with their offspring. Unlike most zoos, at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent we even leave the male in with his mate throughout the birth and rearing of cubs.Mating can occur at any time, but usually happens between November and April.
Nikon D5000 "55-200mm"
Comments Welcome