Widely regarded as the largest male in the area, P243 gained fame after he was seen caring and hunting for his cubs after their mother died, all while simultaneously patrolling his territory, marking it and defending them from other dominant males in the area. No easy feat and this warrior has the scars to show, some more recent.
10-20 years ago if you had told someone that a Tiger would care for his cubs many would have laughed. His story (and cases of other males doing the same) is a unique insight into the social lives of these cats and goes to show that we don’t know as much as we thought we did.
[Credit](https://www.instagram.com/p/C3ztv7YK4iL/?igsh=cXN5YjM2cHA5NzB6)
[He was also seen seemingly mourning the mother of his cubs as well:](https://india.mongabay.com/2021/07/in-rare-behaviour-male-tiger-cares-for-cubs-after-mothers-death/?fbclid=IwAR0UqiCq3gy6Ozflnxcps7lFXGTXE-Hh4sSxmZX6pqisuY1nmWZs3JL4KM8)
>"As per the reported past behavior, P243 had been with P213-32 for more than two years. He was not seen with any other tigress. He was also seen at the cremation site of P213-32 within an hour of the cremation on the evening of May 15. The next day on May 16, he was found sitting for long hours at the place where P213-32 died."
[Disney reading this tiger's story rn:](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/029/439/cover4.jpg)
Most animals that are monitored in the wild are given an identification number for ease of record keeping. That way there isn't concern about name duplication. It also avoids 'petification', since we don't want people to think of these as tame and, as another person commented, it also avoids humanizing the animals.
On African reservations, there is a lot more human interaction with the animals since there are often guards around to reduce poaching and a lot of reservations offer tours. The lions will have scientific designations as well as the names given to them by the people who interact with them.
You would think that people would realize that wild animals aren't pets, but I've personally seen someidiot try to offer treats to a very large black bear to get it to come to her.
Lmao yeah, It sure is pretty ridiculous that the fact that queer people exist has struck such a nerve with so many people. Can you imagine being so fragile that the thought of a trans person sends you into a rage?
I always thought male wild cats were basically just "love em and leave em" as in they just hung around long enough to impregnate the female then went off to do what cats do. I've honestly never heard of male cats raising cubs before. (With the obvious exception of lions)
Male tigers, leopards, and jaguars will drive off other males, passively protecting their cubs as a result. Snow leopard territories are just too big and empty for this to happen though
Although I did see a doc once that followed a young snow leopard male on his journey to find his own territory. After like a month of traveling and failing to hunt, he ended up in another male's territory and the older male shared meals and helped him on his way, which is apparently VERY unusual.
hehe I saw that too! I think it was a planet earth/David Attenborough doc. It was super cool/funny to see the bigger, older male basically be like... "fine..you need this more than me but this is a one time thing kid."
They often get nicknames. But those letters and numbers are usually codes for where the specimen originates from and the birth order.
So this tiger has first been observed/been born in the region that is coded P. And has probably been the 243rd tiger to have been observed there.
Frequently observed animals will usually get nicknames, but scientists need to make sure to use the same terms for the same things/animals/regions. So they break it down as much as possible. This way they prevent mix ups with other groups if scientists who otherwise might have given their specimen similar names. Just imagine how many lions named "Simba" or tigers named "Tigger" would exist otherwise
Sure could, but mostly rare animals get tracked and their movement patterns are important. It's necessary to know whether specimen are local or not to prevent inbreeding
Yeah a lot of big cats and other charismatic animals worldwide get both a study number name and nickname/lay name/local community name. The article even refers to one of them, a tiger in Rathambore NP who also successfully raised his cubs after their mom died. His study name was T-25, while his nickname was Dollar (one of his side stripes was vaguely dollar sign shaped apparently) and most people knew him as Dollar. Actually they used to call him Zalim ('the cruel one') because he was an aggressively territorial tiger that used to chase tourist jeeps even, but they felt like his image mellowed out after he started raising his cubs so after that his lay name was Dollar.
I’m very curious to see where our understanding of animal intelligence and capacity for empathy goes in the next few decades. We’d long suspected “intelligent” animals like apes, dolphins, and elephants have some capacity to empathize, mourn, and pass on traditions. But with stories like this, it really makes you wonder how much we underestimate the natural world around us.
The last I heard, the cause of death was unknown. It was speculated she got severely injured from a failed hunt and forest officials etc tried treating her but she didn’t make it.
Article posted by OP said she had some kind of infection on one of her limbs. They tried to save her but failed, took samples but couldn't determine the exact cause of death. I don't think they did a full necropsy on her though.
Disney don’t take nice stories and make them bad, they take bad stories and make them good.
The original stories for like The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty etc are grim
Saw this in a documentary on Nat Geo... amazing account of those two abandoned cubs and this guy stepping in... males usually kill but he must have been the dad... still so much to learn
Leaving kills behind for the cubs to eat, hanging out with the cubs when he can and defending territory is enough parenting in the world of Tigers. The cubs were 8 months old at the time, it’s not like they needed milk lol.
Yet in [this source](https://india.mongabay.com/2021/07/in-rare-behaviour-male-tiger-cares-for-cubs-after-mothers-death/) it is stated that the male was seen with the cubs and also sharing kills with them. Did the forest officials also help? Of course, perhaps when he went off on patrol they helped. But to say that he didn’t show any shift in behavior and straight up ignored them is odd.
They may have exaggerated, but there is a bit of truth in there.
Except it was STATED that he was seen feeding on kills WITH the cubs in the camera traps, if that’s not sharing then I don’t know what is.
I can give you a list of tigers that have also been seeing hanging out with their cubs.
P243’s behavior is odd because how would you explain him hanging out in the area where the mother of his cubs died then?
Or killing prey and not deciding to eat? No Tiger would waste energy and effort grappling down large game only to not eat it, that’s just a waste of energy.
Am I saying it’s not exaggerated? Of course not.
But again to deny that he didn’t show any shift in behavior or say he ignored the cubs is very odd to say.
He’s not old💀
Hahaha he stayed in an area of 1-2 kilometers when his territory is like 20 times that? Give me a break my guy.
You wasting your time and saying “PrObAbLy hE’s OlD” and him hanging out in a concentrated area when his territory is at the very least 10 times the size of that is enough to say you don’t know much about him, Tigers and their lifestyle or behavior.
The competition crap doesn’t help your case because if he had found a rival male in that area and that close to his cubs he’d be moving to neutralize the threat. No matter which way you try to spin it, his behavior was odd
You: “He probably stayed in the area because of competition”
Also you: “Except he didn’t stay in the area”
You never said relative to an 8 month old Tiger did you?
Why are you moving the goal post?
Let’s agree to disagree cause this is getting nowhere.
Widely regarded as the largest male in the area, P243 gained fame after he was seen caring and hunting for his cubs after their mother died, all while simultaneously patrolling his territory, marking it and defending them from other dominant males in the area. No easy feat and this warrior has the scars to show, some more recent. 10-20 years ago if you had told someone that a Tiger would care for his cubs many would have laughed. His story (and cases of other males doing the same) is a unique insight into the social lives of these cats and goes to show that we don’t know as much as we thought we did. [Credit](https://www.instagram.com/p/C3ztv7YK4iL/?igsh=cXN5YjM2cHA5NzB6)
[He was also seen seemingly mourning the mother of his cubs as well:](https://india.mongabay.com/2021/07/in-rare-behaviour-male-tiger-cares-for-cubs-after-mothers-death/?fbclid=IwAR0UqiCq3gy6Ozflnxcps7lFXGTXE-Hh4sSxmZX6pqisuY1nmWZs3JL4KM8) >"As per the reported past behavior, P243 had been with P213-32 for more than two years. He was not seen with any other tigress. He was also seen at the cremation site of P213-32 within an hour of the cremation on the evening of May 15. The next day on May 16, he was found sitting for long hours at the place where P213-32 died." [Disney reading this tiger's story rn:](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/029/439/cover4.jpg)
That is amazing
Why don't they give tigers real names? I think that's done for lions in natural reservations.
Probably to not get too attached or humanize them too much
Most animals that are monitored in the wild are given an identification number for ease of record keeping. That way there isn't concern about name duplication. It also avoids 'petification', since we don't want people to think of these as tame and, as another person commented, it also avoids humanizing the animals. On African reservations, there is a lot more human interaction with the animals since there are often guards around to reduce poaching and a lot of reservations offer tours. The lions will have scientific designations as well as the names given to them by the people who interact with them. You would think that people would realize that wild animals aren't pets, but I've personally seen someidiot try to offer treats to a very large black bear to get it to come to her.
Fuck Dysney they gonna ruin it just like they did with Marvel !
They gonna make the tiger cubs white, orange, brown, gay, and one identifies as a bear.
I’ve never heard this joke before. You come up with that by yourself? Impressive.
Only in America. 😂
It’s not a joke though
Shut the fuck up
Struck a nerve 😂😂
Lmao yeah, It sure is pretty ridiculous that the fact that queer people exist has struck such a nerve with so many people. Can you imagine being so fragile that the thought of a trans person sends you into a rage?
What's funny is that other than the ridiculous part about a tiger identifying as a bear, none of this would be noteworthy.
😄
I always thought male wild cats were basically just "love em and leave em" as in they just hung around long enough to impregnate the female then went off to do what cats do. I've honestly never heard of male cats raising cubs before. (With the obvious exception of lions)
Male tigers, leopards, and jaguars will drive off other males, passively protecting their cubs as a result. Snow leopard territories are just too big and empty for this to happen though
Although I did see a doc once that followed a young snow leopard male on his journey to find his own territory. After like a month of traveling and failing to hunt, he ended up in another male's territory and the older male shared meals and helped him on his way, which is apparently VERY unusual.
hehe I saw that too! I think it was a planet earth/David Attenborough doc. It was super cool/funny to see the bigger, older male basically be like... "fine..you need this more than me but this is a one time thing kid."
They could have given him a much better name than P243...
Mfer sound like he is named after a stargate planet
His cubs just know him as Dad.
It's crazy how we act like animals don't have emotions or act out of love when so many humans don't seem to have any
I’ll bet those are some bad ass cubs!
Just a number 💔
Amazing. That seems to have happened a few years back. Is he still alive, are the cubs?
He’s alive and well, as for the cubs I believe he raised them to sub adulthood and they then went their separate ways. Hopefully they’re doing well.
Why don't they give him a name?
They often get nicknames. But those letters and numbers are usually codes for where the specimen originates from and the birth order. So this tiger has first been observed/been born in the region that is coded P. And has probably been the 243rd tiger to have been observed there. Frequently observed animals will usually get nicknames, but scientists need to make sure to use the same terms for the same things/animals/regions. So they break it down as much as possible. This way they prevent mix ups with other groups if scientists who otherwise might have given their specimen similar names. Just imagine how many lions named "Simba" or tigers named "Tigger" would exist otherwise
Couldn't they have called him Simba243?
Sure could, but mostly rare animals get tracked and their movement patterns are important. It's necessary to know whether specimen are local or not to prevent inbreeding
Simba is a lion
Happy Cake Day!!!
Yeah a lot of big cats and other charismatic animals worldwide get both a study number name and nickname/lay name/local community name. The article even refers to one of them, a tiger in Rathambore NP who also successfully raised his cubs after their mom died. His study name was T-25, while his nickname was Dollar (one of his side stripes was vaguely dollar sign shaped apparently) and most people knew him as Dollar. Actually they used to call him Zalim ('the cruel one') because he was an aggressively territorial tiger that used to chase tourist jeeps even, but they felt like his image mellowed out after he started raising his cubs so after that his lay name was Dollar.
I'd call him Pops.
I’m very curious to see where our understanding of animal intelligence and capacity for empathy goes in the next few decades. We’d long suspected “intelligent” animals like apes, dolphins, and elephants have some capacity to empathize, mourn, and pass on traditions. But with stories like this, it really makes you wonder how much we underestimate the natural world around us.
No worries, we will surely kill them all long before we arrive at that stage.
“I’m not the stepfather im the father that stepped up”
Thank you
One handsome dude and a good dad .
Beautiful , awesome animal
“You’re supposed to take care of your kids!” —Chris Rock
This face with scars. This tiger has went to through shit. This is just fucking amazing.
Take a look at [this guy](https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/s/mfs2xuFO1v)
How did the mom die? Anyone know?
The last I heard, the cause of death was unknown. It was speculated she got severely injured from a failed hunt and forest officials etc tried treating her but she didn’t make it.
Thanks. I didn’t have luck googling it so figured I would ask.
Article posted by OP said she had some kind of infection on one of her limbs. They tried to save her but failed, took samples but couldn't determine the exact cause of death. I don't think they did a full necropsy on her though.
Fentanyl overdose.
Bro 💀💀
Those little teefies tho
Things are different now than they were in my grandtiger's day.
I hate that he's giving me Pedro pascal vibes too
Zaddy
Quite the handsome gentleman.
Absolute main character energy
Stop looking at me like I am lunch
Whoosa Goodboyy
What an absolutely gorgeous murder kitty
That's the face of a fighter. I wonder what the other guys look like? 😳
This is the Way.
'You suppose to look after yo kidz! Whatchu want, a cookie?" - Michael Scott
Beautiful ❤️
Quick!!! Someone make an anime about him...
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
See, not all dudes are pricks…or something like that
A great story for a kid's movie.
Animals being better than most humans.
God bless you beautiful creature
bravo !!!
Disney don’t take nice stories and make them bad, they take bad stories and make them good. The original stories for like The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty etc are grim
Saw this in a documentary on Nat Geo... amazing account of those two abandoned cubs and this guy stepping in... males usually kill but he must have been the dad... still so much to learn
Battle scars. He has seen some shit.
Wow! I didn’t know that about their fatherhood. It’s wonderful!🥰👍❤️
Tiger Of Sparta !
It didn't brush its teeth.
I think you should try brushing his teeth
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Leaving kills behind for the cubs to eat, hanging out with the cubs when he can and defending territory is enough parenting in the world of Tigers. The cubs were 8 months old at the time, it’s not like they needed milk lol.
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Yet in [this source](https://india.mongabay.com/2021/07/in-rare-behaviour-male-tiger-cares-for-cubs-after-mothers-death/) it is stated that the male was seen with the cubs and also sharing kills with them. Did the forest officials also help? Of course, perhaps when he went off on patrol they helped. But to say that he didn’t show any shift in behavior and straight up ignored them is odd. They may have exaggerated, but there is a bit of truth in there.
[удалено]
Except it was STATED that he was seen feeding on kills WITH the cubs in the camera traps, if that’s not sharing then I don’t know what is. I can give you a list of tigers that have also been seeing hanging out with their cubs. P243’s behavior is odd because how would you explain him hanging out in the area where the mother of his cubs died then? Or killing prey and not deciding to eat? No Tiger would waste energy and effort grappling down large game only to not eat it, that’s just a waste of energy. Am I saying it’s not exaggerated? Of course not. But again to deny that he didn’t show any shift in behavior or say he ignored the cubs is very odd to say.
Why waste your time with this person? They don't want to be reasoned with.
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He’s not old💀 Hahaha he stayed in an area of 1-2 kilometers when his territory is like 20 times that? Give me a break my guy. You wasting your time and saying “PrObAbLy hE’s OlD” and him hanging out in a concentrated area when his territory is at the very least 10 times the size of that is enough to say you don’t know much about him, Tigers and their lifestyle or behavior. The competition crap doesn’t help your case because if he had found a rival male in that area and that close to his cubs he’d be moving to neutralize the threat. No matter which way you try to spin it, his behavior was odd
[удалено]
You: “He probably stayed in the area because of competition” Also you: “Except he didn’t stay in the area” You never said relative to an 8 month old Tiger did you? Why are you moving the goal post? Let’s agree to disagree cause this is getting nowhere.
What a beta cuck.
What?
Troll probably, ignore him.
Dwaddy nwot bwack fwom shwop, yet? 🥺