Expert: Malcolm B. Sullivan Date: 3/24/2008 Subject: Tigers weight?
Question Hi Malcolm
I have a question I think its quite difficult hope you can help me out. I recently read something at wikipedia. It says in the wikipedia According to modern research of wild Siberian tigers in Sikhote-Aline, an average adult male tiger weighs 167,3 - 185,7 kg (the average asymptotic weight of male tigers, computed by use of the Michaelis-Menten formula, gives 222,3 kg) do you know what that means what do they mean with asymptotic weight. (167,3-185,7) And what does Michaelis-Menten formula,(222,3 kg) mean? Is the tigers average weight 222,3 kg how could they get that when they say 167,3 - 185,7 kg is the asymptotic weight. O my this is really confusing you probably think so to. What is thier overall average weight according to them?
2. My second question is I am curious which subspecies of the tigers you think is most beautiful. I think the Siberian Tiger. What do you think?
Thanks for your time best regards/Tiger Lover
Answer Hi, Tiger Lover
1- And you read that in Wikipedia? To be honest, I found it amusing to see that people gets so obsessed over the weight of Siberian tigers. I donīt know if it is curiosity, or perhaps the old and very well known desire of lion fans to prove that their favorite animal is the largest cat in the world, something that, with all due respect to everyone, I find ridiculous. The truth is that all that data shouldnīt be in an encyclopedia aimed to the general public, such as wikipedia, as it only confuses readers. The plain and confirmed facts are those I have given you before. As a species, the largest wild occuring cats. The largest tigers recorded have been Siberian, with some exceptionally large Bengals following closely. They can and have been recorded to reach over 300 kgs in weight, and in captivity even more, although often due to morbid obesity. In general, the largest subspecies of tigers average more than 200 kgs in the case of males, females being smaller. This is all that needs to be said, in my opinion, and I would like to add that there are many questions more important about tigers than their weight.
2- I rarely think about tiger as a group of subspecies, but rather as one impressively beautiful species as a whole. Thus I can say I donīt like one subspecies more than the other.
