The Tiger is one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. It refers to one of the 12 earthly branches that are used in Chinese astrology, together with the 10 heavenly stems. Such a branch designates one day every 12 days: the days are named according to a sexagesimal (60) cycle, made of 10 series of 12 branches.
The Tiger radiates gifts, luck, and often beauty. He is a remarkable leader, with a liking for grandeur and a lot of style, but he lacks elementary self-control: he does not like half-hearted people and he proves to be rather explosive. Proud, he fiercely enjoys his independence; he is rebellious and madly reckless. Extremely demanding, he cannot stand treachery. He has a thirst for adventures and exploits. His passionate attitude often borders on self-destruction.
—Michele Delemme
(Panthera tigris), a mammal of the family Felidae. The tiger, one of the largest of recent predators, measures approximately 3 m in length and has a tail 1.1 m in length; its height at the shoulder is approximately 1.2 m. The tiger has powerful neck and paw muscles and short ears and whiskers. The coat is short and smooth in southern varieties and fluffy in northern ones. The background color of the back and sides is reddish, and of the throat and underparts, white; the body is covered with narrow black transverse stripes.
There are approximately seven geographic varieties of the tiger, found mainly in Southeast Asia, Pakistan, India, Indochina, and the Malay Archipelago. At one time tigers inhabited Transcaucasia and Middle Asia. Approximately 100 individuals now inhabit Primor’e Krai. The world population of tigers living in the wild, as high as 30,000 in the 1930’s, fell to approximately 2,500 by the 1960’s. The tiger is under international protection and is listed in the Red Data Book of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. In the early 1970’s, 12 tiger sanctuaries were established in India.
The tiger inhabits shrubs and thickets of reeds and bamboo, as well as mountain forests. It avoids very snowy regions but tolerates frosts well. It feeds chiefly on wild ungulates and occasionally attacks domestic livestock, dogs, and bears. Tigers attack human beings only very rarely; man-eaters are usually old or sick animals that are incapable of hunting ungulates. The tiger overtakes its prey with a mighty leap. It pursues the prey no more than 100–150 m when it fails to catch it on the first attempt.
A tigress reproduces once in two or three years and gives birth to two to four and, rarely, six young. The average gestation period is 105 days. Tigers build dens in clefts of rocks, caves, shrubs, and reed thickets. The life-span is usually 20 years or more. Tigers are primarily nocturnal animals of great strength, dexterity, and stamina. Their usual means of locomotion is walking; however, they are good swimmers. Only young tigers climb trees. Tigers can jump as much as 7 m in length and 2 m in height. The life of the tiger is sedentary if food is abundant.
Fossil tigers have been found in Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in China and Primor’e Krai, USSR. Tigers were once prized by sportsmen and commercial hunters for their splendid fur. Tigers are caught live for zoos; they reproduce in captivity.
N. K. VERESHCHAGIN