4) Monstrous Siberian tiger, though only front portion of the body is visible, it is apparent he is larger than most other tigers
Adding another tiger which is in same league to all the above four tigers!!!
5)KZT_024, Gigantic Kaziranga tiger caught from the camera trap study done in 2009 in Kaziranga National Park, most possibly is the largest tiger ever photographed.
(Left side pose)
(Right side pose)
6)Another tiger from Orang, this tiger is a serious contender for being the largest tiger ever photographed,
Friday, 6 April 2012
STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES AMONG BENGAL TIGERS
The largest feline in the world, the Royal Bengal Tiger, is a subspecies of tiger native to the Indian subcontinent. In 2010, it has been classified as endangered in the IUCN list. It is distributed in countries of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. In India, it is present in protected areas or reserves with small pockets of population present outside these reserves.
Coming to their true size, they are the largest as well as the smallest. Tigers are from Sunderbans seem to be possibly the smallest tigers in the world, while Assam tigers seem to be the largest while those from other places seem to average 220kgs and above. Let us see the structural differences among these tigers. Tigers from South India have an average weight of 221kgs for male tigers, and 140kgs for the females. Where as those from North India have an average of 235kgs for males and 140kgs for females. Kaziranga male tigers certainly seem to average 250kgs and above based on various camera trap pictures.
Let us have a rough view over how big kaziranga tigers can get, with step by step analysis.
Take dominant male tiger from Bandipur, Raja tipped to be around 250-260kgs by experts. Let us compare him to Madla, who easily bottomed the scale of 250kgs weight. So, he is definitely 280kgs and above, many people say 300-320kgs.
MADLA
Madla, the very famous tiger from Panna National Park came to light with the famous BBC documentary, "Tigers of Emerald Forest."
(Credits to Tiger Owns Lion)
He was weighed in at 250kgs. Is it correct? NO. Many people who knew him say he was definitely 300-325kgs. Yes that is true.
The famous Nepal male tiger Sauhara Male weighed by Dr.Mel Sunquist 261-272kgs on "an empty stomach." He was 310cms in total length (10"2'). His tail alone measured 113cms, his head body length from tip of nose to the base of tail was around 197cms. Here is a look at how madla appears infront of sauhara male tiger, he definitely appears to be 20cms longer than Sauhara male tiger. So, a head body length no less than 7 feet.
(Click on the images to view at original size)
Even considering Dr.Raghu Chundawat to be around 5 1/2 feet or slightly more, he is definitely 1 1/2 longer than Dr.Raghu Chundawat. So, 7feet head body length is the truth, meaning he has 20cms over Sauhara and seemingly taller than him too.
Now, coming to the body size or heaviness. He has uniformly plain larger body from the chest to abdominal regions just as Sauhara male. So, only the chest girth, neck girths matter.
Sauhara male tiger had 80cms neck girth, 140cms chest girth, where as Madla had 90cms neck girth and 160cms chest girth. 20cms extra chest girth and 10cms neck girth difference definitely adds around 50-70kgs in case of tigers. So, Madla is (261/272kgs+50-70kgs). So, madla seems to be around 310-330kgs. Let us assume 300-320kgs.
ROUGH COMPARISONS
First of all, let us see Raja the impressive 250-260kgs from bandipur,
The forearms size is uncharacteristic to his size. Here is how he appears infront of madla, difference of 50-60kgs between the two tigers
How much can be the difference in weights between madla and the kaziranga tiger? Moreover the comparison is with equal shoulder heights. Being kaziranga tigers should make them even taller. Then how big the tiger must be? While comparing him to a lion having 178cms chest girth and 108cms tall almost as equally tall as that kaziranga tiger, this tiger which is strong and bulky seems to be on par with the lion. So, he may have a chest girth of 170-175cms, or may be upto the girth of that lion (178cms)
What is astonishing is almost every kaziranga tiger is the size of madla. There are much bigger tigers,
One of those tigers is this tiger from India Nature Watch,
This tiger was caught in the camera traps, sadly he is no more.
He appears to be much heavier than madla, with more bulky body. How big can this tiger be? If this tiger is compared to a captive lion having 178cms chest girth and 108cms tall.
KZT 023 seems to be taller than 108cms. Assuming him to be slightly taller, then the lion definitely seems to be smaller. If it is around atleast 15cms difference(may be upto 25cms maximum though most likely does not appear to be) in chest girths between madla and the kaziranga tiger, then the difference between madla and the kaziranga tiger can be around 40-70kgs(may vary on upper limit though less likely). So, definitely he is larger than this lion.
The picture is not to his maximum potential shoulder height. So, he may be even bigger.
Then with allround body which is heavier than that of the lion, this tiger KZT 023 must be bigger than this lion. Moreover he died 3 months prior to when this picture was taken. So, he was not in his prime. In his prime he should have been even bigger. But there is one more tiger bigger than this hulk.
THE MONSTER TIGER
This giant tiger tag named KZT 110 is considered by many experts to be the largest Bengal tiger ever captured in camera till date. Longer, taller, robust, heavy and compact body with tightly packed muscles, massive forearms, deeper and massive chest girth makes this tiger some of the most massive wild tigers ever. It definitely appears to have 5-15cms chest girth(i.e. 180-195cms) over this massive tiger.
How big he can be? What could be the difference between Madla and that KZT 110? Here is another picture of Madla and KZT 110,
Appears to be easily around 60kgs(minimum) or more difference. This tiger would have definitely been a record breaker if he was weighed at that time. Surprising fact is that KZT 110 is still not the biggest. There is one more tiger larger than him. Hope to get his picture soon.
Before getting his picture, let us see how big KZT 110 is in comparison with some captive specimens!! Here is a huge siberian tiger in captivity. A very long and reasonably tall and compact specimen,
Seems to be not that tall for a captive specimen, assuming 110cms shoulder height for him and also assuming KZT 110 to be atleast as tall as him, here is how he appears infront of KZT 110 and moreover if observed carefully, KZT 110's body is curved at the region of chest to head. So, he must be even longer.
EDIT:
In the documentary "Tigers of the Emerald Forest", there was another tiger challenging madla and was killing his cubs. His name is Hairyfoot.
According to Dr.Raghu Chundawat he is slightly larger than madla or roughly the same size. Here are some other comparisons between these massive Panna tigers and some really HUGE kaziranga tigers at equal shoulder heights(to be honest these tigers should be even taller). KZT 035 in the first picture may be matching (or probably even bigger than) KZT 110.
Though the second tiger is not in the same position as Hairyfoot, this position of him seems to be the better one to compare him to Hairyfoot at EQUAL HEIGHTS. He appears no less to Hairyfoot in terms of body width. If he is taller(which should be the possibility) he is definitely much bigger
(Left side pose)
(Right side pose)
