Traces of Bengal Tigers Found in Yunnan Province

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 24, 2002

Traces of Bengal Tigers Found in Yunnan Province

Traces of the Bengal tiger, one of the most endangered animal species in the world, have been found in virgin forest in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

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Traces of the Bengal tiger, one of the most endangered animal species in the world, have been found in virgin forest in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Chinese scientists have estimated the presence of from five to seven Bengal tigers in an investigative report.

Cows killed and footprints seen

The elusive tigers appear to be moving around the Nangun River Nature Reserve in the Va Autonomous County of Cangyuan in Yunnan Province.

According to a survey conducted by staff at the Nangun River Nature Reserve, the tigers have killed six buffaloes and 24 cows in 2001 and three buffaloes and 14 cows in 2000. The local government has paid compensation to the owners.

Local farmers have also seen footprints of Bengal tigers in the forest of the nature reserve.

Wei Xuexian, head of the Cangyuan County, attributed the apparent reappearance of Bengal tiger to the expansion of forested areas as a result of abandoning the slash-and-burn farming method.

The population of Bengal tigers is decreasing rapidly in China following poaching and the shrinking of their habitation. It is on the verge of extinction.

The Bengal Tiger

Description

Head/body length: 5 feet 10 inches- 9 feet 1 inch; tail length: 36 inches; weight: 350-550 pounds; shoulder height three feet or less. Eyes are large with excellent vision. Hearing is good with well developed ear flaps. They have large canine teeth and strong, powerful jaws. Paws are heavily padded; claws are retractable. Coloration is bright fawn to reddish tan, shading to white underneath, and sharply marked with uneven black stripes: a unique pattern for each individual. Fur is short and thick. Whiskers (vibrissae) are long with thick individual hairs.

Geographical range and habite

Found throughout India from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, except in the deserts. (Other races are found in Burma, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Bali.) Prefered habitats include dense thickets, long grass, or tamarisk shrubs along river banks. Some seem to have special fondness for cover in old ruins.

Diet

Carnivorous. Diet varies according to locality. Prefers deer, wild pigs, young buffalo, young elephants and cattle in general, any prey over 100 pounds in weight. But when driven by hunger will eat almost anything: fowl, fish, lizards, frogs, crocodiles, carrion, or even humans, on occasion.

Status in wild

Endangered. They have been hunted heavily by man for sport, skins, and as a source of traditional medical products. Superstition has surrounded tigers for centuries; necklets of claws are thought to protect a child from "the evil eye", whiskers have been considered either a dreadful poison (Malaysia), a powerful aphrodisiac (Indonesia), or an aid to childbirth (India and Pakistan) and the bones, fat, liver and penis are prized as aphrodisiacs or medicines.

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