Animals of India

The Tiger - Panthera Tigris (Linnaeus)

Local Names: Hindi: Bagh, Sher. Central India: Nahar, Sela Vagh. Marathi: Wagh. Tamil & Telugu: Poolee. Malayalam: Kaduwa. Kannada: Hoolee. Burmese: Char.

Size: Measured in a straight line between pegs few Indian tigers exceed 10 ft. (300 cm,) in length. The average is 9 ft. 6 (275-290 cm.); females, 8 ft. 6 in (260 cm). Average weight, male 400-500 lb. (180-230 kg.); females about 100 lb. (45 kg.) less. Tigers from the Himalayas generally show a slight superiority in size over tigers from Madhya Pradesh and Southern India.

Distinguishing Characters: The Indian Tiger is a rich-coloured striped animal with a short coat. There are of course Individual variations among the tigers of various areas.

Distribution: Over the wide area of its range, 6 races of the tiger have been distinguished. The Indian race, designated as the typical Tiger, is found practically throughout India from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, except in the deserts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Kutch and Sind. Its range also extends into Burma.

THE LEOPARD - Panthera Pardus (Linnaeus)

Local Names: Hindi: Tendwa, Chita, Sona Chita, Chita Bagh. Marathi: Karda, Asnea, Singhal, Bibalya Wagh. Kannada: Chirchu, Chirata, Siwangi, Keeraba. Tamil: Chiruthai. Telugu: Chinna Puli. Burmese: Thit. Malayalam: Pulli Poolee.

Size: The average total length is 7ft. (215 cms.) females about 6ft.(185 cms.). An exceptionally large male may reach 8ft. (245 cms.). Weight 150 lb. (68 Kgs.) female about 110 (50 Kg.). These are maximum weights, ordinary weights are 115 lb. (52 Kgs.) and 85 lb. (39 Kgs.), There is a lot of variation in size in various parts of India.

Distinguishing Characters: A typical leopard from the Indian peninsula is a sleek short-haired animal with a fulvous or bright fulvous coat market with small close-set black rosettes, there is however considerable colour variations. Animals from the desert zone are paler. Leopards from Kashmir have soft deep-furred grey buff coats with small, thick-rimmed rosettes.

Distribution: The Indian leopard range over the whole country and extends into Burma and Ceylon. Leopard's from Sind, Kashmir and Baluchistan are regarded as distinct races, so is the leopard found in Sikkim and Nepal, Pocock has named and described eleven races of leopard's found in Asia. According to him three of these races occur in India.