Are wild tigers frequently entering villages? In fact, there are far more captive tigers than wild ones

Editor’s Note:

On November 18, 2024, a tiger appeared in Changtai Village, Jixing Korean-Manchu Township, Boli County, Heilongjiang Province. The surveillance video circulated online showed that at about 6 o'clock that day, a villager walked out of the door, and suddenly a tiger rushed out and pounced on the iron gate, knocking the door open. The villager immediately ran back home, and then the tiger left. When the distance was closest, there was only a door between the man and the tiger, and the roar of the tiger could be heard in the video. A villager in Changtai Village, Jixing Township, told reporters that another villager was bitten on the hand and the condition was serious. He has been sent to the hospital for treatment.

The whole incident was terrifying. The tiger is worthy of its title of "king of beasts". In addition to its ferocious nature, there are many other facts about tigers. Let's see how many do you know?

Part 1 There are 9 subspecies of tigers, but 3 of them are extinct

Over the past two million years, tigers have evolved into a total of nine subspecies , namely the South China tiger (Panthera tigris Amoyensis), Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni), Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris ssp. Corbetti), Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris ssp. altaica), Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris ssp. Sumatrae), Bali tiger (Panthera tigris balica), Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgate), and Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica).

The nine subspecies of tiger (Image source: Conservation Campaign)

But unfortunately, the Bali tiger, Caspian tiger and Javan tiger have become extinct since the 1940s.

Part 2 : There are far more tigers in captivity than in the wild

According to statistics from relevant agencies, tigers have lost about 95% of their habitat due to habitat degradation and fragmentation. There are currently an estimated 3,900 tigers living in the wild, a number that was 100,000 in the early 20th century. In other words, the decline in tiger numbers over the past century has reached an astonishing 96%.

Tigers in captivity

(Photo source: veer photo gallery)

Although tigers are endangered in the wild, it is estimated that there are about 8,000 tigers in captivity in East and Southeast Asia; in the United States, the number is about 5,000 (or more), and the total has exceeded the 10,000 mark. However, due to the lack of regulation of this captive breeding, the black market trade in tigers is rampant.

Part.3 The stripes on tigers are their "identity cards"

When talking about the black market trade of tigers, we have to mention tiger skins. Just as there are no two leaves in the world that are exactly the same, there are no two tigers in the world with the same stripes on their fur. So in the eyes of scientists, tiger stripes have become a unique "identity card" to identify each individual. Some researchers have even developed software to identify the stripes on tiger fur to track surviving tigers and trace the source of poached tiger skins.

Identifying stripes on tiger fur

(Image source: References)

I have to say, this is indeed a good way to track big cats. It may not be reliable to follow the map, but it is worth a try to identify the tiger by its pattern.

Part 4

Cool "tattoo" under the striped vest

Last time when we discussed whether zebras have black background with white stripes or white background with black stripes, we mentioned that the zebra's black and white stripes hide pure black skin. Seeing this, are there friends who would ask: If we shave the tiger's hair, won't your stripe ID card recognition method be useless?

In fact, let’s not talk about who has the ability to shave the tiger’s entire body, even if the orange “big cat” really had its hair shaved, what we actually see is this:

After a tiger is shaved, are the stripes on the surface of its skin a bit fashionable?

(Image source: reddit.com)

This means that if a "big cat" is shaved for some reason, its stripes will not disappear, and it will never be impossible to tell who is who because they have taken off their vests. This is simply...

You may be wondering if this is a natural pattern on the tiger's skin. The answer is no. The stripes we see are actually patterns formed by dark hair follicles on exposed skin.

Part 5: The tiger in the eyes of humans and the tiger in the eyes of prey

Some of you may have wondered why the tiger, as the king of the forest, doesn't have a green coat. Wouldn't it be more convenient for hunting? An orange-yellow coat would be very eye-catching in the woods!

In fact, what is the best color for animal camouflage depends largely on the visual system of their prey or predator. We can see a tiger in the woods at a glance, but it does not mean that its prey can see it. According to the simulation of scientists, in the eyes of tiger prey, the tiger in the woods is not so conspicuous, it blends perfectly with the background~

The tiger in the eyes of its prey (left) and the tiger in the eyes of humans (right)

(Image source: References)

As the saying goes, there are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand readers, so we should not judge the king of the mountain in the eyes of our prey based on the tiger in our own eyes!

Part.6 The blackened tiger does exist

When discussing albino animals, we mentioned that the white tiger is a rare mutant of the Bengal tiger. Since white tigers objectively exist in reality, what about black tigers?

The left is a normal tiger, and the right is a black tiger

(Image source: References)

Melanistic tigers do exist in nature. As shown in the picture, the black stripes on their bodies are darker and larger than those of ordinary individuals, even far exceeding the area of ​​yellow hair; the black stripes are denser between each other and sometimes even converge into a large black block.

No wonder there is a martial arts move called "Black Tiger Heart-Digging" in martial arts routines. The ancients were not deceiving me.

Part 7 Tiger urine smells like basmati rice and popcorn...

Those of you who have been to a public toilet must be familiar with what our own urine smells like, but if you ask what tiger urine smells like, do you know?

Tigers are known to use urine to mark their territory and send signals, which gives scientists an opportunity to study tiger urine. According to the researchers' analysis of tiger total marking fluid, the smell of tiger urine may be very similar to the taste of certain foods, such as the smell of Indian basmati rice in the urine of Bengal tigers, the unique nutty aroma of the urine of Siberian tigers, and the smell of corn...

Tiger peeing

(Image source: dreamstime.com)

This result is related to a substance called 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) in tiger urine, which is a compound similar to the smell of popcorn. In addition to 2-AP, the urine of Siberian tigers also contains chemical components such as 3-methylbutylamine, 3-methylcyclopentanone, malonic acid, urea, furfural and 3-hydroxybutyraldehyde, which may give the urine of Siberian tigers a unique nutty aroma.

After seeing this, do the nuts in your hands suddenly lose their fragrance?

Part 8

Tigers like to live near water

When you bathe your cat, you should all be aware of the nature of most cats that hate getting wet. After a bath, the cat is often left with a mess.

Tiger swimming in water

(Image source: YouTube)

As a cute orange "big cat", tigers have a special liking for water. Most tigers like to live near water. After all, it's hot in the summer, and taking a bath can be said to be the most comfortable! Not only in the wild, but also in captivity, a clean pool can greatly improve the welfare of tigers. So it seems that tigers should belong to the "water" element in the five elements~

Part 9

Tigers cannot taste sweetness

As we all know, most mammals have five forms of taste perception, namely sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and umami, but not all animals have the above five tastes. For example, giant pandas and red pandas mainly feed on bamboo, and their umami receptors responsible for sensing the deliciousness of meat have evolved into pseudogenes (Editor's note: also known as pseudogenes, which are non-functional remnants of gene families formed during the evolution process); for domestic cats and tigers, because they mainly feed on meat, the perception of sweetness has become less important, and the related receptor gene (Tas1r2) has also evolved into a pseudogene.

In situ hybridization experiments showed that the gene Tas1r2 related to sweet taste perception is not expressed in cat taste buds

(Image source: References)

However, although both big cats and small cats are not sensitive to sweetness, the cats at home seem to be extremely sensitive to umami. They even secretly eat chicken essence by themselves. It is really hard to describe.

Part 10 The so-called " tiger penis " may actually be the genitals of wild buffaloes

Although I don't know why some people are obsessed with the efficacy of tiger penis, it is undeniable that some misunderstandings have had a profound impact on the black market trade of tiger organs. However, I guess most of you here have never seen what a tiger's penis looks like. In fact, cat owners at home can compare it to the penis of their own cats.

If there are no conditions, you can refer to the following picture:

Tiger's Tintin

(Image source: Tiger Penis Project)

However, no matter how you look at it, a tiger penis cannot have aphrodisiac effects. Not only that, most of the tiger organs sold on the market may be fake. According to a report issued by the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, the only laboratory in the world dedicated to solving wildlife crimes, many so-called tiger penises on the market are actually fake cow penises and martin penises.

Cow penises (top and middle) and Martin penises (bottom row) used to impersonate tiger penises

(Image source: References)

Of course, smart friends will definitely not be fooled by unscrupulous businessmen. After all, we will not buy it, let alone dare to buy it.

References:

[1] Hiby, L., Lovell, P., Patil, N., Kumar, NS, Gopalaswamy, AM, & Karanth, KU (2009). A tiger cannot change its stripes: using a three-dimensional model to match images of living tigers and tiger skins. Biology letters, 5(3), 383-386.

[2] Fennell, JG, Talas, L., Baddeley, RJ, Cuthill, IC, & Scott-Samuel, NE (2019). Optimizing color for camouflage and visibility using deep learning: the effects of the environment and the observer's visual system. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 16(154), 20190183.

[3] Sagar, V., Kaelin, CB, Natesh, M., Reddy, PA, Mohapatra, RK, Chhattani, H., ... & Ramakrishnan, U. (2021). High frequency of an otherwise rare phenotype in a small and isolated tiger population. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(39).

[4] Brahmacary, RL, Sarkar, MP, & Dutta, J. (1990). The aroma of rice... and tiger. Nature, 344(6261), 26-26.

[5] Soso, SB, & Koziel, JA (2016). Analysis of odorants in marking fluid of Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) using simultaneous sensory and chemical analysis with headspace solid-phase microextraction and multidimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry. Molecules, 21(7), 834.

[6] Biolatti, C., Modesto, P., Dezzutto, D., Pera, F., Tarantola, M., Gennero, MS, ... & Acutis, PL (2016). Behavioral analysis of captive tigers (Panthera tigris): A water pool makes the difference. Applied animal behavior science, 174, 173-180.

[7] Li,

[8] Yates, BC. (2005). Distinguishing Real vs Fake Tiger Penises. Identification Guides for Wildlife Law Enforcement No. 6. USFWS, National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, Ashland, OR.

Source: Science Institute