Indochinese Tiger

Quick Take

• Every Indochinese tiger wears a pattern no other tiger shares, and that is not even the strangest thing about how it hides. See its unique markings →
• This tiger can eat something that would shred most animals' mouths, and it has a built-in tool specifically designed to handle that challenge. Discover the tongue tool →
• With fewer than 400 left in the wild, the reason they're so hard to count is the same reason they've survived this long. See the survival numbers →
• The name 'corbetti' honors a man whose relationship with these tigers started in a way you wouldn't expect. Explore the name's origin →

Indochinese tigers live in the southeastern part of Asia. They have a coat of orange or gold featuring a pattern of black stripes. Every Indochinese tiger has its own pattern of stripes, so no two tigers are exactly the same. This tiger lives alone and stays hidden most of the time. It can live to be 10 to 15 years old in the wild.

5 Indochinese Tiger Facts

• Indochinese tigers are carnivores.
• They are nocturnal and hunt at night.
• These tigers live in tropical rainforests as well as in grasslands and the mountains.
• They are one of the 5 most endangered species of big cats in the world.
• A male Indochinese tiger can weigh up to 430 pounds.

Evolution And Origin

Among the earliest ancestors of all modern-day carnivores, which include cats, dogs, mongooses, skunks, and bears, were the miacids, an extinct paraphyletic group whose relatives were already present at least 52 million years ago, during the Eocene era. Then came Pseudaelurus, a group of small- to medium-sized Miocene cats that emerged after Proailurus and are considered early ancestors of the roughly 37 to 40 species of cats found on Earth today. The earliest tiger fossils were found in Java, in Southeast Asia, and date back to about 1.6–1.8 million years ago.

Classification and Scientific Name

The Indochinese tiger is this animal’s common name, while its scientific name is Panthera tigris corbetti. The word Panthera is a Latin term meaning ‘panther,’ and the word tigris is Latin for tiger. The word corbetti refers to Jim Corbett, an Anglo-Indian hunter turned conservationist famous for hunting man-eating tigers and leopards in India. This tiger belongs to the family Felidae and class Mammalia.

As a quick comparison, these tigers are smaller than a Bengal tiger but larger than a Malayan tiger. The Indochinese tiger and the Malayan tiger were once thought of as the same subspecies. But in 2004, scientists officially determined that these two tigers are different subspecies.

Appearance And Behavior

These tigers have a coat of orange or gold with black stripes. Their fur color helps to keep them hidden in the forest when hunting for food. The stripes on a tiger blend in with the shadows in a rainforest, making it hard to see these big cats. This tiger also has white fur on its stomach and face and a ruff of white hair on its neck.

This big cat has powerful yellow or light-colored eyes that allow it to see perfectly in the dark as it hunts at nighttime. Plus, they have excellent hearing which also helps them to detect prey such as deer, wild boar, and even monkeys.

These tigers have long claws that are retractable. This means the tiger can pull its claws back into its paws when it doesn’t need them. These claws allow a tiger to hold onto the bark while safely climbing a tree.

The strong back legs of this tiger allow it to easily jump onto high tree branches, swim, and chase prey. This tiger can run at speeds up to 40 miles per hour. The running speed of this tiger is almost as fast as a baseball pitcher’s curveball.

A male tiger grows to be 8 and a half to 9 and a half feet long. They can weigh from 330 to 430 pounds. A 9-and-a-half-foot male tiger is as long as a line of 7 bowling pins. A 430-pound male tiger is half as heavy as a full-grown horse. Female tigers can be 7 and a half to 8 and a half feet long and weigh between 220 and 290 pounds. An 8-and-a-half-foot-long tiger is equal to half the height of a giraffe.

These tigers are solitary animals. The only time you’ll see a few of these tigers together is when mothers are taking care of cubs and during mating season.

These tigers are shy and like to stay hidden from sight. But a male will become aggressive toward another male tiger entering its territory, especially during mating season. Have you ever seen a cat in your neighborhood scratching the bark of a tree? This is one of the ways a cat (including these tigers) marks its territory as a signal to other cats to stay away.

Habitat

Indochinese tigers live in the southeast area of Asia. Specifically, they live in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. They live in a tropical climate in rainforests as well as in grasslands and in the mountains.

These tigers migrate to higher elevations in the mountains to find food when prey is scarce in their current territory.

Diet

Indochinese tigers are carnivores. The type of meat they eat depends on what’s available in their territory. Sambar deer, serow (a goat-like mammal), wild boars, and banteng (wild cattle) are all common prey for this tiger. However, if there is a shortage of these animals, an Indochinese tiger’s diet can include monkeys, hog badgers, and even porcupines.

These tigers can eat up to 88 pounds of meat in one meal. 88 pounds of meat is equal in weight to 6 bowling balls.

An Indochinese tiger’s tongue has papillae on it. When you think of papillae, imagine tiny spikes on a tiger’s tongue. These help an Indochinese tiger to remove feathers or fur from their dead prey without hurting the tiger’s tongue. If you have a house cat, it has papillae on its tongue, too. But a house cat’s papillae are much softer than the papillae of an Indochinese tiger that has to chase down large prey in the wild.

Predators And Threats

Indochinese tigers don’t have any animal predators. Humans are their only predators. Some people hunt these tigers for sport or for their fur, claws, or meat. Some types of ancient medicines are made using parts of this tiger.

Habitat loss is another threat to Indochinese tigers. Areas of the forests they live in are being cut down and cleared. This area is being devoted to extending roadways and creating more farmland.

The conservation status of this tiger is Endangered. To help protect it, there are laws against hunting Indochinese tigers. The punishment for poaching Indochinese tigers can be years in prison. Additionally, over 60 of these tigers are kept in zoos to protect them and help increase their population.

Reproduction, Babies, And Lifespan

The mating season of Indochinese tigers falls between November and April. When female tigers are ready to mate, they release a scent to alert male tigers. Also, females make growling or purring noises as a way to attract males. It’s not uncommon for two males to fight over one female. The strongest one will win and mate with the female.

A female Indochinese tiger is pregnant for about 3 to 3.5 months. She gives live birth to between 2 and 4 cubs. Each cub weighs around 2 to 3 pounds. Once the female becomes pregnant, the male tiger leaves.

Baby Indochinese tigers are known as cubs. They are born blind and helpless in a den. A cub’s eyes don’t open until about 6 to 12 days after it is born. The mother tiger nurses her cubs until they are about 6 months old. After that, she teaches her cubs how to hunt for food and brings them some of the prey she captures. A mother tiger is very sensitive to the safety of her cubs. If she senses that her cubs are in danger, she will move them to another den or area to keep them away from predators.

At about 18 to 24 months, the cubs are old enough to leave their mother’s den and go out on their own. In 2 or 3 years, they will begin having their own cubs.

Indochinese tigers live 15 to 26 years. A Sumatran tiger (similar to an Indochinese tiger) that made its home in San Diego Zoo lived to be 25 years old. That Sumatran tiger is the oldest on record.

As Indochinese tigers age, they can experience vision problems, which can lead to a lack of nourishment because they aren’t able to catch their prey. Plus, if an older tiger falls sick or is injured, it is vulnerable to attacks from other tigers in the area.

Population

The conservation status of the Indochinese tiger is Endangered. The population is decreasing due to habitat loss and poaching.

The total population of Indochinese tigers is difficult to estimate because these big cats are so good at staying hidden. However, there are believed to be approximately 350 left in existence. The largest concentration of Indochinese tigers is in Thailand.