Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae)

PD Photo: Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), photographed on August 30, 2007 by Dick Mudde in Diergaarde Blijdorp (Stichting Koninklijke Rotterdamse Diergaarde, Foundation Royal Zoo of Rotterdam, one of the oldest zoos in the Netherlands).

The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), a subspecies of tigers found on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, have unique genetic markers, which isolate Sumatran tigers from all other mainland subspecies of tigers. The Sumatran tiger is only found naturally in Sumatra, a large island in western Indonesia. The smallest of all surviving tiger subspecies, the male Sumatran Tiger has average 204 cm (6 feet 8 inches) length and weigh about 136 kg (300 lb) and tigresses of this subspecies average 198 cm (6 feet 6 inches) in length weighing about 91 kg (200 lb). They have webbing between their toes that help Sumatran tigers swim very fast.

Tourists watching tigers in Tiger Temple, Thailand

PD Photo: Tourists watching tigers in the Tiger Temple (Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua), a Theravada Buddhist temple in Western Thailand which looks after several tigers that can be petted by visitors.

The Buddhist temple located in Saiyok District of Thailand's Kanchanaburi province close to the border with Myanmar, about 38 km north-west of Kanchanaburi along the 323 highway, was founded in 1994 as a forest temple and sanctuary for numerous wild animals, including tigers. Tourists can even have themselves photographed while they hug or pet the tigers in the open grounds.

Lions mating

PD Photo: A pair of lions mating in the Masai Mara National Reserve (also spelled Maasai Mara), a large game reserve in south-western Kenya

Lions grow to reproductive stage in about four years, and females (lionesses) may even have given birth to cubs by this age. Lions do not mate at any particular time of year, though the females are polyestrous. A lioness may mate with more than one lion when she is in heat. During a mating bout that could last several days, the couple copulates twenty to forty times a day and they may even forgo eating.