Taylor Croft
June 13, 2018
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Auburn "Aubie" the Tiger
The tiger, Aubie, has been the mascot for Auburn for almost 40 years. Many cultures consider the tiger to be a symbol of courage and strength. The classification of the tiger is a mammal, the skull of the tiger is very stout and the roundness in the shape provides support for the extremely powerful jaws. The average height of a tiger is 2.3-4 ft. as an adult. The length is roughly 8.2-13 ft. for a male and 6.6-9 ft. for a female. Adult male Amur tigers can weigh up to 660 lbs. and females can weigh up to 370 lbs. Tigers have different colors of fur depending on where they live. The hair on the tiger can provide camouflage, warmth, and protection for them in time of need. Tigers have two different types of hair, guard hair and underfur. The underfur traps air and insulates the tiger’s body which keeps the tiger warm. The striping on the tiger varies in width, length, and if it’s a single or double loop. The coloration is from a light brown to a dark black. The stripes are not symmetrical from one side to the other. No two tigers have the same markings on their coat, their stripes are like their fingerprints for humans.
Tigers live all over the world, in zoos and such, but they live wildly in Asia, eastern Russia, Northeastern China, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Tigers can be found in many diverse habitats, like forests, flooded mangrove forests, tropical forests and taiga, grasslands, savannas, and swamps.
Typically, tigers feed on large prey such as pigs, deer, and rhino or elephant calves. For a tiger to kill their prey, they will clamp down the animal's neck with their tough jaws and do this to suffocate the animal. Tigers are very active at night and will hunt down their prey for a long time until they know they are set to feast. They are carnivores and are no strangers to failure.
Tigers give live births to their babies, or cubs, with are born helpless. Females can give birth to as many as 7 cubs at a time. Unfortunately, roughly two survive because the mother must leave the cubs as soon as given birth while she hunts food for them. Due to this, she cannot always kill enough prey for the cubs to feed and survive. The cubs mature very fast and around eight weeks old they are ready to hunt and go out with their mother. Around two years old, the cubs are ready to hunt by themselves and the mother usually gives birth to another set of cubs. Mostly, tigers sleep for an average of twenty hours a day. They sleep wherever they please to, and their cubs sleep right next to them because that’s where they feel most safe.
Tigers are very territorial, and their social system is connected through visual signals, scent marks, and vocalizations. Males have larger territories than females, the larger areas contain more than enough food, water, and shelter resources. They keep their territories large and to overlap other females territories on purpose, some are on average of 4,000 square miles. Siberian tigers are known for having the largest range of territories.
The temperament of a tiger is very fearsome in their areas, whether amongst prey, sympatric predators, or even people. Tigers are often solitary and socializing at other times. They like to spend time alone when they are roaming for food. Tigers mark their territories by scratching trees with their claws. Tigers have extraordinary hearing skills. Tigers hunt in areas with very dense vegetation, in order to overcome this challenge by being able to hear in the range of 0.2 kHz and 65 kHz, which is completely different from the frequency of humans. They also enjoy being in water because they are incredible swimmers. The lifespan of a tiger is on average of 26 years.
Humans are the reason why Tigers are becoming extinct. One type of tigers are already extinct and others are endangered. Main threats to a tiger are human activity, as humans take up more and more land in these areas close to Asia, the less area that these tigers have to feed and live. Tigers are also poached often, and for two reasons. One reason is for fur in history, and another is for their bones and other body parts that are in great demand for medicines in China. The average wild tigers left on the earth is around 3,000-3,600 tigers.