Courtship and Breeding in Panthera tigris

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Courtship and Breeding in Panthera tigris

• Kayla Souza

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Focus

• Information is typically based on Siberian and
  Bengal tigers alone in the wild and in captivity.

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Panthera tigris

• Courtship
• Copulation rates
• Breeding
• Behaviors
• General
• Territory
• Hunting

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Courtship

• Female is vocal when she is estrus(ovulating)?
• Male replies with a sharp deep call
• When a female decides that a male is suitable for
  mating. The following occurs
• The two tigers come into contact by touching each
  others whiskers
• Female presents herself to the male by lying down
• Male mounts female and bites back of her neck
  during copulation.

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Courtship

• It is most likely that the female lashes out
  towards the male right after copulation because
  the male actually has small spines on its sexual
  organ to help stimulate ovulation.
• Females are very defensive toward males
  especially those that are newly introduced. A
  change is behavior from the female is highly
  obvious.
• Sometimes the female will refuse to eat.

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Copulation and Courtship

• After copulation occurs tigers are often seen
  cooling off in large bodies of water together.
• Sometimes two breeding tigers will catch prey and
  feed before their mating begins.

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Copulation Breeding Behavior

• Panthera Tigris copulation periods occur within a
  few days when the female is fertile.(usually 2-3
  days)?
• The two tigers will attempt to reproduce 15-20
  times a day within the time frame of estrus.
• When the female has completed her period of heat,
  the male tiger usually leaves after 20-80 days
  and returns to his territory.
• It is very rare for the male tiger to be living
  and sharing meals with the female and her cubs
  and is only temporary.

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Breeding and Statistics

• Most tigers mate in the Spring. However wild and
  captive tigers have different peak periods for
  cub births.
• Females can come into estrus every three to nine
  weeks.
• Wild tigers have a peak from March to June and
  then again from December to January.
• Captive tigers have a peak from March to May and
  then again from August to September.
• The average number of cubs that survive in
  captivity is greater than those that survive in
  the wild.

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Gestation

• The average gestation period for Panthera tigris
  is 103 days.
• One cub out of the whole litter usually dies at
  birth.

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Tiger Cub Statistics
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Tiger Cubs
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Tiger Cubs

• In the wild, two cubs per litter is more common
  whereas in captivity three cubs per litter is
  most common.
• Privacy for pregnant mothers is important. Just
  like some other mammals, they are very fragile
  and temperamental during pregnancy.
• The mothers more aggressive behavior is caused by
  her need to protect her cubs.

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Mother and Cub

• The mother carries her cubs around with their
  neck and/or skin of the neck from point to point
  to keep track of them.

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Behaviors

• The female tiger does little to prepare for the
  birth and care of her cubs unlike lions who are
  very social animals.
• When the female lion feels she will give birth
  soon, she makes a home in a cave and prepares to
  stay for several weeks after the birth.

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Conditions

• In captivity, certain conditions are required for
  a mother and her cubs.
• Varieties of food and much fresh air is needed to
  complete the upbringing of a healthy litter of
  cubs.
• Human contact should be kept minimal.

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General Information

• Bengal tigers are highly populated in India and
  its bordering countries.
• The territory of Panthera tigris can be from
  25-300 square miles.
• These tigers can live up to 15 years.
• Generally, males are larger than the females.

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General Information

• Male tigers are from 9-10 feet long and generally
  weigh around 400-575 lbs.
• Females are no more than 8 feet long and weigh
  around 220-375 lbs.

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Territory

• Panthera tigris mark their territory by stripping
  bark from trees and expelling strong smelling
  urine to alert other animals that they are on
  their grounds.
• Size of the tigers territory depends on the
  amount of prey in that area.

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Eating Hunting

• Tigers like to hide in tall grasslands and stay
  out of open fields.
• Usual prey for wild tigers is cattle, pig and
  deer.
• After catching their prey, they drag the animal
  to a safe place to eat over a course of several
  days.

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Hunting

• In some instances tigers will hunt for prey under
  water.
• In this case the tiger has been thrown fresh meat
  underwater and therefore dives to catch it.