The number of tiger subspecies in China is the highest in the world. In addition to the extinct Xinjiang tiger (a branch of Li Haihu), there are four species: Northeast Tiger, South China Tiger, Bengal Tiger and Indian Zina Tiger.
Many times, tigers are portrayed as fierce characters, showing their minions for most of their lives, but from? Tiger poison doesn't eat children? In this word, we can still see the gentle moment of tigers, that is, when they are raising their offspring. But what about this? Gentle? It is relative, simply speaking, it is divided into objects. For the little tiger, the tigress at this time is very gentle, but for other animals or people, it is more fierce and threatening.
It is not difficult to understand that when we observe the dogs in the child-rearing period, we will find that they are more fierce than usual, and even have a certain distrust of their owners, mainly because the dogs as mothers at this time are naturally extremely vigilant and afraid that others will hurt their cubs.
At the beginning of life, it begins to mate. Although the tiger grew up fierce, it was cute when it was a child and looked cute. This vivid life originally came from the mating of a female tiger and a male tiger. Most animals in the world have a fixed estrus period, such as wildebeest in Africa, which usually estrus in summer every year; Caribou is from mid-September to 65438+ 10 every year.
According to big data, most tigers are interested in estrus from June 165438+ 10 to April of the following year, and when the temperature drops, tigers will also increase the frequency of mating.
However, in fact, tigers do not have a fixed estrus period. A healthy tigress may be in estrus at any season of the year. There are many reasons that affect their estrus, among which cubs are a big factor. In the whole process of raising cubs, the tigress will not enter estrus until the cubs grow up and leave, and the tigress will re-enter estrus.
However, there are also unexpected situations, that is, when all the cubs die, the mother tiger will quickly adjust her physiological state, and quickly enter estrus after a few days, and there is a high probability of welcoming her new child in the next five months.
This phenomenon of a tigress is similar to that of a lioness. In the process of raising children, the lioness will not get pregnant. When the cubs die, the lioness will quickly enter estrus. This explains why lions and tigers are happy to kill cubs who are not their own flesh and blood. Lions and tigers have a short reign, and they have no time to wait for other cubs to grow up. Therefore, they will kill the cubs, prompting the female tiger to enter estrus quickly, thus mating with herself and giving birth to her offspring.
In the animal kingdom, reproduction is a major event, and even the biggest mission of many animals is to leave their offspring. For this ultimate goal, they have worked hard all their lives.
The lion killed the cub.
Tigers are solitary animals. Even the male tiger and the female tiger don't have much contact on weekdays. So how did the female tiger who entered estrus let the male tiger find himself?
It turns out that the tigress in estrus will leave a smell everywhere in her territory, which is different from the smell of the previously marked territory. To be precise, it can be conveyed to the male tiger? I was ready for this. Why didn't you come to me? Information.
The territory of a male tiger usually includes the territory of 1-3 female tigers. When the male tiger smells this smell, he will become very excited and then roar frequently, and the tigress there will also respond.
It takes a lot of effort to chase girls, and so does Tiger Mother. After a short courtship ceremony, the male tiger can get the favor of the female tiger and then mate with it. Male tigers have always been regarded as comparison? Slag? What it said was to leave without looking back after mating, and we all misunderstood. In fact, it was the tigress who drove it away.
During the mating period of 5 or 6 days, the female tiger's attitude towards the male tiger is very ambiguous, but once the female tiger is pregnant, her attitude will become 180 degrees and she will become irritable. At this time, the male tiger is well informed and will leave her to find another female tiger in heat.
Many people have asked me a question that tigers are solitary animals. When it is pregnant, it means that its hunting ability drops. How does it get food? Actually, we don't have to worry. The mother tiger's pregnancy is very short, about three and a half months. At the beginning of pregnancy, the mother tiger is very inconspicuous and basically does not affect their daily activities.
In the last ten days of pregnancy, the mother tiger's stomach will gradually swell. At this time, the tigress still has strong action ability, and it is not difficult to prey on some old and weak wild animals. Only in the last 3-5 days of pregnancy will the tigress temporarily lose her hunting ability.
After the mother tiger got pregnant, the male tiger left, and the male tiger basically didn't help during the whole parenting period, so it is not difficult to understand why the mother tiger got pregnant for such a short time.
A pregnant tiger
In the last few days of pregnancy, the tigress lost her hunting ability, so what is she doing at this time? In these days, the tigress will find a safe place with enough prey in her territory, and then lie down quietly and wait for the arrival of new life.
Tigers have no fixed nests on weekdays. Most of their daily rest places are cracks between rocks and grass, but in order to raise their children, the tigress will pick up branches and hay to build a simple nest. However, the nesting ability of tigers is really poor. It just lies on the ground with branches and things like that, and it has no feeling of nesting at all.
The tiger's simple nest
After the cubs are born, they are completely dependent on their mothers, and the tigress will become particularly vigilant at this time. Everything around her can attract their attention. Once the tigress senses danger, she will act without hesitation. The tigress holds her cubs in the same way as a cat, holding the tiger's back neck in her mouth, and then what? Mention? Walk slowly.
In this respect, the tigress and the lioness are also very similar. Although lions are social animals, in the last few days of pregnancy, the lioness will leave the lion to find a safe place and give birth to her cubs. The lioness won't bring the cubs back to live with the lions until they can go out for activities.
The way tigers hold their cubs.
We learned it in Chinese textbooks? Meng Mu moved three times? The story is about Mencius' mother, who moved many times in order to give Mencius a good growing environment. However, this behavior of the tigress is not the animal world version. Meng Mu moved three times? And then what? But? The tiger moved three times? For safety reasons, in order to protect the little tiger from other males, leopards, bears and other animals.
Take good care of, stay with, grow up in a cat, for the cubs? The best? A new study shows that female pumas spend 82% of their time with their cubs, especially in the first 10 days, and pumas spend more time with their cubs.
Pumas versus cubs? Spoil? To what extent? Let's just say that it won't train its cubs in various skills until 18 months, but the little tiger began to receive training in the eighth week after birth.
puma
Although not as good as a cougar, the tigress is not bad for her cubs. In the first few days, the tigress will spend about 70% of her time with them every day to protect them. It is not until a month later that the tigress has the basic mobility that she will reduce this time to 30%.
At this time, the mother tiger's main job is to solve the food problem besides taking care of her cubs. After all, there are more mouths to eat at home (a tiger can have up to 7 babies at a time, but most of the time only 2-3), so it is necessary to ensure adequate milk supply.
In the first 6-8 weeks, because the digestive system of tigers is still developing, their main food source is the mother tiger's milk, and they will not eat some solid food slowly until 6-8 weeks later.
During breastfeeding, the female tiger's food intake will increase by about 50%, and they will hunt frequently day and night. From this point of view, the decision made by the tigress when choosing a nest is very wise. Choosing an area with a lot of prey means that she can get enough food without going far after giving birth.
After 8 weeks, the tigers' bodies have developed to a certain extent, and then they can leave the nest. At this stage, tigers will show a strong desire to explore the world. They will explore all the places around the nest, and the tigress always patiently takes the cubs outside back to the nest.
The tigress takes care of her cubs very carefully. She will cover up the feces of herself and her cubs, and even be observed eating the feces of her cubs to prevent other predators from following her.
Many people will ask: is it true that the male tiger has no responsibility and no effect during the whole parenting period? Actually, it's not. During this period, the biggest role of the male tiger is to protect his territory and ensure the safety of his mother and son.
In the world of male tigers, there is also frequent competition. Winning more territory means more mating rights. Once the male tiger is defeated by the new invaders, it means that his cubs are not safe. The invaders will kill the cubs in order to get the tigress into estrus as soon as possible.
Besides, will the male tiger kill the cubs? See if it recognizes it. Many people say that the cubs killed by the male tiger are unrelated, and he will not kill his own children. This sentence is actually inaccurate. If the male tiger denies it, he will not hesitate to start, but many times the male tiger can recognize his own child, so he won't kill it, forming the illusion of killing only unrelated relatives.
On this issue, the best example is the Tiger King Chagill in Bandaga National Park, India. During Chagil's unification of the National Park, he didn't kill his cub, but he frequently clashed with his two grandchildren in his later years.
Tiger King Chagall
Little tiger is both a teacher and a mother, and grows up quickly under the care of his mother. About two months later, the cub's desire to explore the outside world reached its peak. At this stage, the mother tiger will walk around with her cubs, let them watch their hunting, and teach them various skills such as fighting and predation by playing together.
Little Tiger is also very studious. After watching their mother hunt, their brothers and sisters will imitate each other's tigress and practice repeatedly, and finally master this skill. Five months later, although they had no actual combat experience, they learned everything.
In addition, in the process of learning skills, the tigress often bites some prey, but doesn't kill it, and then lets the tigress come and finish the final work? Lock your throat? . In this way, under the careful training of mother tiger, the little tiger's ability has advanced by leaps and bounds.
More than a year has passed, and the tiger has not fully grown up, but at this time it has the ability of a predator and can kill some slow-moving prey. But at this stage, the tiger still lacks the ability to live independently, so it will not live alone without its mother.
In fact, apart from learning from the tigress, the most important thing for Little Tiger to master skills so quickly is the interaction between brothers and sisters. In the process of playing, gradually master some skills necessary for life. In a cub, there will be a special little tiger called? Dominant individuals? As the name implies, it is a little tiger with advantages in all aspects.
This dominant individual is usually a bigger and stronger male tiger. It's like the eldest of the little tigers. When the tigress is away, act as? Parents? The role of. Especially after six months, a hierarchical order will be established among the cubs, and this dominant individual's leadership temperament will become more obvious, which directs the cubs when to play and when to sleep.
Dominant individuals not only have the highest status among tigers, but also can be inclined in resource allocation. When the tigress forages, she will give priority to the dominant individual. When food is in short supply, the dominant individual usually gets more food. When faced with a threat, the tigress saves the dominant individual first.
The mortality rate of tiger cubs is very high, and the dominant individual is stronger than other tigers, which means that it will have greater advantages in surviving the cruel life and fierce competition in the future, so it is not surprising that it can get more favor from the tigress.
The dominant individuals do live up to expectations. In a young tiger, it is the fiercest and strongest, especially after 18 months, everyone has mastered the hunting skills, and when they start hunting with the mother tiger, they will give full play to their advantages. Its hunting ability is the highest among tigers, and it can help the tigress best.
Grow sturdily, children travel far. Although the tiger mastered the hunting skills after 18 months, it was not in a hurry to go out alone, but continued to live with the tigress for a period of time, usually 4-5 months. After the tiger leaves, the tigress will not enter estrus immediately, but will wait 10-24 months before estrus.
Through the first 4-5 months of life, the tiger has initially gained the ability to live independently, but it is not very strong, so it will not be too far away, but lives not far from the mother tiger. From this point of view, it is beneficial for these tigers that the tigress is not in a hurry, because if the tigress is in estrus in a short time, it will attract the males, which is a threat to the tigers around the site.
Many people say that when the Xiao Xiong tiger grows up, it will leave its mother tiger as much as possible to settle down. This statement is actually not accurate. Many people put it? The male tiger will try to stay away from the female tiger? This sentence is taken as truth, but I don't understand the principle behind it.
After leaving the mother tiger, Xiao Xiong tigers are not strong enough to compete with other mature males. So at this stage, it will not go too far, but move around its mother's territory until their bodies are strong enough, that is, when they are about 5 years old, they will challenge other males and go as far as possible. For example, Tiger King Chajil has expanded his territory to the extreme all his life, but limited by the environment, he can only stay in the park.
The reason why male tigers will go further is not only to compete for more territory, but also related to their personality. Male tigers are naturally more exploratory than female tigers, which has been shown since their infancy. For example, the male tiger is usually the first to walk out of the nest, which is what I said earlier? Dominant individuals? . When they first explored the outside world, Xiao Xiong tigers were more naughty and went further. For example, the tiger's long-distance trip, which caused a great sensation in India, was also led by a male Bengal tiger. It traveled many times during 20 19-2020, with a cumulative journey of more than 6,000 kilometers.
As for the little tigress, because their desire for territory is not as great as that of the male tiger, and the male tiger's territorial consciousness is relative, with little tolerance for the same sex and high tolerance for the opposite sex, even if they move around the tigress's territory, there will be no great danger.