The Tiger is the world's largest cat. This is the nominate race which averages the largest of the 6 extant subspecies and which often goes by the name "Bengal Tiger." It is also the most common with an official Indian population estimated at 2,226 although that number has been questioned and is probably closer to 1,700 (Arjun et al. 2015, Goodrich et al. 2015). The species is listed as endangered by the IUCN. Its range has been reduced by 42% within the last decade and continues to decline. Best estimates are the world population is 3,159 individuals in the wild. We were told that this individual, which can be identified by unique markings is T74, one of three males born in May 2012. Their mother, T17 was killed 10 months later after wandering into a nearby village. At last count there were 57 Tigers in Ranthambhore of which 18 adults and 8 cubs are in zones open to the public. Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
References:
Arjun M. Gopalaswamy, Mohan Delampady, K. Ullas Karanth, N. Samba Kumar, David W. Macdonald. An examination of index-calibration experiments: counting tigers at macroecological scales. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2015; DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.12351
Goodrich, J., Lynam, A., Miquelle, D., Wibisono, H., Kawanishi, K., Pattanavibool, A., Htun, S., Tempa, T., Karki, J., Jhala, Y. & Karanth, U. 2015. Panthera tigris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T15955A50659951.