Cubs

Facts

Tigresses are overly cautious and secretive when caring for young cubs. She will immediately move them if the area becomes disturbed or threatened.

The tigress is solely responsible for the protection and care of her young for the first few months of the cubs' lives. She leaves her young for only short periods of time to drink and hunt.

Tigresses will spend nearly 70% of their time nursing their cubs for the first few days following birth. The amount of time spent nursing reduces to about 30% of their day by the time the cubs are a month old.

Nursing tigresses must increase their nutritional intake by an estimated 50% to keep up their milk supply. For example a nursing female in Chitwan consumed a large prey item every five to six days as opposed to eating one large prey item every eight days when she was on her own.

The tigress stimulates the cubs circulation and bowel movements by spending large periods of time licking them.

The tigress may also eat the cubs' feces in order to protect them from potential predators detecting their scents.

Tiger cubs begin consuming solid food when they are six to eight weeks old.

At four months of age tiger cubs are about the size of a medium-sized dog and spend their day playing, pouncing and wrestling with siblings.

About three and a half months after mating with a male tiger, the female tiger gives birth to a litter of cubs. The female tiger usually chooses a spot that's secluded and covered to have her babies. Typically, the birth of a litter of cubs takes about an hour, with cubs being born every 15 to 20 minutes. Cubs weigh approximately two pounds when they are born. They are blind and utterly dependent on their mother for food and protection.

Though a female tiger gives birth to two to seven cubs in a litter, usually not all of the cubs survive. Often, the mother tiger cannot find enough food to feed all of the cubs. Because of this, usually only two of the cubs in the litter survive to adulthood.