kingdom: animalia
phylum:chordata
class:mammalia
order: carnivora
family:felidae
genus: panthera
Species: tigris
sub-species: tigris

As the most well-known of the tiger family, bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) have dark colouration, dark black stripes and very clearly defined white areas. Tigers can be white also with chocolate coloured stripes, and blue eyes. Those tigers that appear snow white actually have stripes that are too faint to be visible. Only Bengal tigers can be white. These are not a separate species, and as Like the melanisim found in jaguars and leopards,a normal coloured Bengal can give birth to both orange and white cubs in a litter, although no white tigers are known to exist in the wild - only in captivity - as a white tiger would never exist in the wild, having no camouflage from prey, therefore dying of starvation. There are also very rare "golden" tigers, which are a yellowish orange, with light brown stripes. Weighing between 100kg up to 258kg, Bengals are the second largest of the tiger family with females measuring from 241cm to 261cm and males between 264cm to 309cm.

Predominant in India with smaller scattered numbers found throughout southern Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and western Myanmar, the bengal race of these majestic cats has the largest population left in the wild, with numbers ranging between 3,000 and 4,700. Although considered to be the most "secure" in its future than its cousins, this sub-species still faces many threats to its survival. Approximately 66 protected areas exist with 21 of those managed specifically for the tiger and its conservation, and most of India's tiger population can be found within these reserves. One reserve is being decreased as a result of human settlement, with others bound to follow in future years, and this highlights one of the dangers that is apparent to the tiger today - the loss of its natural habitat. And with poaching still abundant within the country, the tiger's future is becoming very grim. Project Tiger, formed in 1972, is an organisation devoted to preserving these cats in India, safeguarding their future with the many reserves designed to reduce the tiger's conflict with people - here the tiger can live in its natural habitat without the threat of poaching and hopefully deforestation. They are fully protected within these areas, with heavy fines enforced for illegal hunting and killing of the tiger.

Population status
At the beginning of the 1900s there were believed to be an
estimated total of 40,000 tigers in the wild within India. This
number has fallen over the years to an uncertain status
between 3,000 and 4,700. In Bangladesh, the tigers of the
Sunderban mangrove forests and swamp area, the only tigers
known to kill man, are believed to have a population ranging
from 300 to about 460, including the areas the smaller
reserves in the east, south and west of the region. It is
possible that they still exist in the most south-eastern end of
the country near Myanmar.

Bhutan has nine protected reserves in the lowland
region that are set aside for tiger conservation, and
tigers are believed to inhabit all areas. In 1994, a
census revealed that about 237 tigers dwell within
Bhutan, noting that some are shared with India.
China has a small number of bengals numbering
30 to 35. The 21 protected reserves of India that are
specifically for tiger conservation covers an expanse
of approximately 30,000 sq.km, with about 1,300
tiger inhabiting the reserves - which is about a third
of the country's total number of about 3,800. Here
they are protected from human settlement which
also exists in the nearby areas, and agrilculture and
livestock, and they are found to live within another
80 protected areas that house man and agricultural
development. Twelve large areas of forest have
been set aside by the Wildlife Institute of India for
tiger conservation, although one primary reserve set
up by Project Tiger has been reduced by a third to
make way for human development, as stated above.
With the decline of its habitat, and decreasing the
protected areas of tiger reserves, the future
prospects for the bengal tiger threatens the
remaining 3,000 to 4,000 thought to still inhabit
India's forest reserves.

The Royal Chitwan, Royal Bardia, Royal Sukhla
Phanta and Parsa IV of Nepal are the only areas
to exclusively contain tigers, with an estmate of
maybe 250 in numbers. Also known as the Royal
Bengal tiger or the Indian tiger, this sub-species'
population has more numbers than all of the other
four sub-species added together.