Reproduction
Sumatran tigers have the same reproduction habits as the Saber Tooth Tiger. It is also very hard to analyze reproduction in Sumatran tigers because they are a critically endangered species and protected by law. Sumatran Tigers, like European Cave Spiders, are a solitary species, and only come together to mate. There is often fighting between males while competing for a female (Sunquist and Sunquist, 2012). When it comes to mating, the female tiger becomes fertile every 3 to 9 weeks and they are only extremely acceptive for 3 to 6 days. (Sunquist and Sunquist, 2012). If the female egg is fertilized, she will carry the fetus for around 103 days (Sunquist and Sunquist, 2012). The female will then birth a litter which, on average, consists of 3 baby tigers.
The female
Sumatran tiger is capable of breeding at any time of the year, but willl most
commonly do so from November to April (Sunquist and
Sunquist, 2012). The mother will allow the baby tigers to breastfeed for
around 100 days before weaning them off. She will take
care of her cubs for the next 18 months. In this time she
will feed the children and teach them how to hunt for
themselves. The mother will also have to take great care of her young for the
first eight weeks, as other male tigers will attempt to kill them. If
the male successfully kills all of a females cubs, then he will be able
to mate with her (Bioexpedition.com). Once on their own, it takes females approximately 3 to 4 years to reach
sexual maturity. The male takes a bit longer, as they become sexually
mature between the ages of 4 and 5 (Dacres,
2007).
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