Royal Bengal Tigers, Sriracha Tiger Zoo and Tiger Show!

The Sriracha Tiger Zoo is in Sriracha, a city on the outskirts of Pattaya, a seaside city in Chonburi Province, Thailand. It is about 97 km (60 mi) from Bangkok and just 30 minutes’ south of Pattaya by car. The zoo claims a population of well over 200 tigers and around 10,000 crocodiles, the largest such populations in the world.

Open in 1997, the tiger zoo covers a vast 400,000sqm area. The zoo is divided into four zones: tiger breeding zone, talent show zone, crocodile zone and animal zone. The main attraction is the tiger cub feeding room, which showcases tiger cubs and piglets living and feeding in the same cage, the Elephant show, Crocodile show and the Tiger show. For an extra fee, you can feed the cubs and have your picture taken with them.

What do Bengal tigers, dogs and pigs have in common? After all, they’re all members of the animal kingdom but they come from completely different families. At Sriracha Tiger Zoo, though, you will find them all living together in harmony, thanks to the zoo’s rather unique feeding programme. Witness mother pigs feed tiger cubs alongside their piglets; have your picture taken with the cubs; watch the various shows, or enjoy riding on an elephant. Also, meet and feed the ostriches, single hump camels, kangaroos and an aviary of exotic birds. This is one place for families to enjoy quality time together.

Here is a video made by me of exclusively Sriracha Tiger Zoo and the Tiger Show:

VIDEO:

Tigers are the largest members of the cat family and are renowned for their power and strength.

Coming to the tigers at Sriracha, they are all Bengal Tigers, the Royal Bengal Tigers, which have Indian origins, as the name indicates. Tigers are icons of beauty and power. It is our National Animal and that of Bangladesh too. As Indians, we are proud of tigers which at one time existed in very large numbers in most parts of our country. During my childhood at Kothagudem, I used to hear of tigers and cheetahs in the nearby forests. Hunters came here not specifically for these wild animals, but mostly for sambar deer, spotted deer, wild boar, rabbits and waterfowl.  I remember a few personal incidents from my childhood involving tigers at Kothagudem. When attacked by a tiger a farmer fought it with his sickle and in the process, both the huge tiger and the fragile farmer died. Their bodies were brought on bullock carts to the house and office of the RDO (Revenue Divisional Officer), our neighbour, for financial assistance to the farmer‘s family and maybe some award. I witnessed this entire scene. Another incident was of tiger pug marks seen very close to our house at the spray pond of the thermal power station adjacent to our house, where the tiger came to drink water.  I was a part of the small crowd that went and witnessed these pug marks. Yet another incident is when our family was invited to visit a circus in the town during day time to see the caged and other birds and animals, and the circus artists practising for their shows. I got to hold a tiger cub, the size of a fully grown cat, for some time. And now at Sriracha, I and my wife got to carry an almost fully grown tiger on our laps and feed milk! You can see this in the attached pictures and video.    

There were eight tiger subspecies at one time, but three became extinct during the 20th century. Over the last 100 years, hunting and forest destruction have reduced tiger populations from hundreds of thousands of animals to perhaps fewer than 4,500, the world over. Tigers are hunted as trophies, and also for body parts that are used in traditional Chinese medicine. All five remaining tiger subspecies are at risk, and many protection programs are in place.

Males have an average total length of 270 to 310 cm (110 to 120 in) including the tail, while females measure 240 to 265 cm (94 to 104 in) on average. The tail is typically 85 to 110 cm (33 to 43 in) long, and on average, tigers are 90 to 110 cm (35 to 43 in) in height at the shoulders. The weight of males ranges from 180 to 258 kg (397 to 569 lb), while that of the females ranges from 100 to 160 kg (220 to 350 lb). The smallest recorded weights for Bengal tigers are from the Bangladesh Sundarbans, where adult females are 75 to 80 kg (165 to 176 lb).

The tiger has exceptionally stout teeth. Its canines are 7.5 to 10 cm (3.0 to 3.9 in) long and thus the longest among all cats. The greatest length of its skull is 332 to 376 mm (13.1 to 14.8 in).

Bengal tigers live mostly in India and are sometimes called Indian tigers. They are the most common tigers and number about half of all wild tigers. Over many centuries they have become an important part of Indian tradition and lore.

The Bengal tiger ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The Bengal tiger's coat is yellow to light orange, with stripes ranging from dark brown to black; the belly and the interior parts of the limbs are white, and the tail is orange with black rings.

Bengal tigers weigh up to 325 kg (717 lb) and reach a head and body length of 320 cm (130 in). Several scientists indicated that adult male Bengal tigers from the Terai in Nepal and Bhutan, and Assam, Uttarakhand and West Bengal in north India consistently attain more than 227 kg (500 lb) of body weight.

The average lifespan of Bengal tigers in the wild is 8 to 10 years. The maximum age of a wild Bengal tiger is 15 years. But very few of them reach out to this limit in the wild as finally they become too weak and lose the ability to hunt large animals.

Tigers live alone and aggressively, they scent-mark large territories to keep their rivals away. They are powerful nocturnal hunters that travel many miles to find buffalo, deer, wild pigs, and other large mammals. Tigers use their distinctive coats as camouflage (no two have exactly the same stripes). They lie in wait and creep close enough to attack their victims with a quick spring and a fatal pounce. A hungry tiger can eat as much as 60 pounds in one night, though they usually eat less.

Despite their fearsome reputation, most tigers avoid humans; however, a few do become dangerous man-eaters. These man-eaters are often sick and unable to hunt normally or live in an area where their traditional prey has vanished.

Females give birth to litters of two to six cubs, which they raise with little or no help from the male. Cubs cannot hunt until they are 18 months old and remain with their mothers for two to three years when they disperse to find their own territory.

The basic social unit of the tiger is the elemental one of the female and her offspring. Adult animals congregate only temporarily when special conditions permit, such as a plentiful supply of food. Otherwise, they lead solitary lives, hunting individually for the forest and grassland animals, upon which they prey. Resident adults of either sex maintain home ranges, confining their movements to definite habitats within which they satisfy their needs and those of their cubs, which include prey, water and shelter. In this site, they also maintain contact with other tigers, especially those of the opposite sex. Those sharing the same ground are well aware of each other's movements and activities.

Males reach maturity at 4–5 years of age, and females at 3–4 years. A Bengal tiger comes into heat at intervals of about 3–9 weeks and is receptive for 3–6 days. After a gestation period of 104–106 days, 1–6 cubs are born in a shelter situated in tall grass, thick bush or in caves. New-born cubs weigh 780 to 1,600 g (1.72 to 3.53 lb) and they have a thick woolly fur that is shed after 3.5–5 months. Their eyes and ears are closed. Their milk teeth start to erupt at about 2–3 weeks after birth and are slowly replaced by permanent dentition from 8.5–9.5 weeks of age onwards. They suckle for 3–6 months, and begin to eat small amounts of solid food at about 2 months of age. At this time, they follow their mother on her hunting expeditions and begin to take part in hunting at 5–6 months of age. At the age of 2–3 years, they slowly start to separate from the family group and become transient – looking out for an area, where they can establish their own territory. Young males move further away from their mother's territory than young females. Once the family group has split, the mother comes into heat again.

Over the past century, tiger numbers have fallen dramatically, with a decreasing population trend. None of the Tiger Conservation Landscapes within the Bengal tiger range is large enough to support an effective population size of 250 individuals. Habitat losses and the extremely large-scale incidences of poaching are serious threats to the species' survival.

India now has as many as 2,967 tigers in the wild, with more than half of them in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, according to the latest tiger estimation report released by our Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi, on 30th July 2019. However, this growth has not been uniform across all 18 states where tigers are found. My State of Telangana has just 26 tigers.  The count has decreased drastically from 46 to 19 in Chhattisgarh. In Odisha, it has been on a continual decline over the years. We have 50 tiger reserves in India. Not all are doing well.

I wish and pray that the tigers are well taken care of in all the tiger reserves in India and elsewhere, and their population increases. Apart from their growth in tiger reserves maybe we should encourage Tiger Zoos like Sriracha where tiger breeding and care of over 200 tigers are taken care of so nicely.