A tiger radiates power, just like a lion. The cubs of a tiger are droll and a lot of people fall for their charms. However, the cubs mature quickly thanks to the mother’s education. Of course the tigress has to accept the young. The more she gives birth, the more likely she will not shed the young. How does everything work? What mating ritual do the tigers have? Which reproductive behavior precedes this? How is pregnancy and delivery?
The reproductive behavior
Sexually mature?
Tigers reach sexual maturity when they are four or five years old. A tigress is born a little earlier and is sexually mature when she is three or four years old. A tiger mates all year round. Depending on what kind of tiger it is, they obviously have peak times. These moments fall in late winter or early spring.
Several females, several times
Because the tiger always lives alone, it mates with several females and only stays with the female during the period when the tigress is in heat. This is approximately 20 days. He thinks the tigress several times a day. When several tigers are interested in a tigress, a fight will take place. This also happens according to certain rituals. For example, one tiger will try to intimidate another by showing its teeth, moving whiskers and making dangerous eye contact. The conflict usually ends with a few strokes.
The mating ritual
For mating
A tigress is fertile several times in a year, but the period that she is, lasts only about three to seven days. When a tigress is in heat she leaves a urine trail and scratches trees to let the tiger know she wants to mate. To draw attention to her even more, she also starts making sounds. The tiger will respond with a short, deep roar. When no male approaches her, she looks for a tiger herself. She does this because a tiger’s territory is quite large.
During mating
During mating, the tiger takes her by the neck. After mating, the tigress acts hostile to the tiger that soon leaves her. The tigress has to raise the cubs herself. The tiger, meanwhile, is once again looking for a tigress. A tigress is not ready to mate again until about 20 months.
Pregnancy and upbringing
The pregnancy and farrowing
In a tiger you can only see that she is pregnant for the last week and a half. A tiger pregnancy lasts approximately 115 days. When she gives birth, she does so just like the lioness in a safe place. Here too several young are thrown. The number varies from 2 to 3. At birth, the young already roar after 30 minutes and the cubs are blind. After two weeks this blindness disappears and everything goes very quickly. When the cubs are born, they weigh between 800 grams and one and a half kilos.
The upbringing
The young are suckled with milk and after a month and a half pieces of meat are added. Three months later they only eat meat. When they are about two years old, they can already kill large prey. When the tiger has killed a prey and it is too far from the nest, the tigress will eat everything and then regurgitate it at the nest. That way, she brings the undigested meat to her cubs. The remarkable thing about the tigers is that the young will usually be rejected on the first litter. With the second litter it normally goes a bit better and from the third litter on the mother does not reject the young. A tiger will quickly teach her young to be independent and so will sometimes show her teeth when they don’t adopt this behavior. Hence, the young leave their hiding place for the first time after two months and go on the hunt after six months. When the young are three to four years old they leave their mother.