Present situation of Royal Bengale tiger

Royal Bengal Tiger is without doubt the most fascinating wild animal today. It is the national animal of Bangladesh. It has ruled the roost of major felid species for most part of the current century. Royal Bengal Tiger is reddish orange with narrow black, gray or brown stripes, generally in a vertical direction. The underside is creamy or white; a rare variant has a chalky white coat with darker stripes and icy blue eyes. The weight is, male 225 kg , female 135 kg. It is the largest existing member of the cat family. It is called so because of its royal look and is available in Bengal or Bangladesh (Sundarbans). It feeds on medium to large prey such as pigs, deer, antelopes, and buffalo


Some interesting facts:
a. Since tigers hunt mostly at dusk and dawn their stripes help them hide in the shadows of tall grasses. They stalk and pounce because they are not able to chase prey a long distance.
b. The territorial male tiger usually travels alone, marking his boundaries with urine, droppings, and scratch marks to warn off trespassers.
c. A tiger can consume as much as 40 kg (88 lb.) of meat in one feeding.
d. Since white tigers have pigmented stripes and blue eyes, they are not albinos.
e. It is estimated that there are less than 3,000 Bengal tigers left in the wild.

Present situation of Royal Bengale tiger:   

Bangladesh has only a little more than 100 Royal Bengal tigers living in the Sunderbans forest, far fewer than previously thought, new figures show.Forestry officials say a survey, using hidden cameras, counted 106 tigers in the wild on the Bangladeshi side of the world's largest mangrove swamp, and about 74 on the Indian side.The figures mark a sharp decline from the 440 animals recorded 10 years ago.Experts say the decline is mainly down to rampant poaching.But they add that lower numbers also reflect more accurate surveying techniques.All previous surveys counted tiger paw prints - which are unique to each animal, but difficult to spot, collate and analyse.The hidden cameras yielded lower - but more accurate figures, they say.Experts say the gangs killing the tigers trade in tiger skin and body parts.