SCIENTIFIC NAME : Panthera tigris tigris WEIGHT : 550 pounds LENGTH : 10 ft POPULATION : >2500 PLACES : primarily in India HABITATS : Dry and wet deciduous forests, grassland and temperate forests, mangrove forests | The Bengal tiger is found primarily in India with smaller populations in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar. It is the most numerous of all tiger subspecies with more than 2,500 left in the wild. The creation of India’s tiger reserves in the 1970s helped to stabilize numbers, but poaching to meet a growing demand from Asia in recent years has once again put the Bengal tiger at risk. The mangroves of the Sundarbans—shared between Bangladesh and India—are the only mangrove forests where tigers are found. The Sundarbans are increasingly threatened by sea level rise as a result of climate change. |
