The Tongue of the Tiger: A Fearsome Existence
Tigers are among the most powerful creatures in the animal kingdom. When people think of tigers, they often picture their majestic eyes as they stalk their prey.
The powerful expression and charisma of the “Lord of the Jungle” while hunting. (Photo: Andiegozoo).
Tigers are the largest cats on Earth. There are currently six subspecies, including the Siberian tiger, South China tiger (which may be extinct in the wild), Indochinese tiger, Malayan tiger, Sumatran tiger, and Bengal tiger. In the wild, an adult male Siberian tiger can weigh up to 300 kg and measure about 3.3 meters in length.
It is no coincidence that tigers are called “Lords of the Jungle.” Tigers can leap up to 10 meters and take down prey that weighs five times their own weight. Not only do they possess the longest canine teeth among big cats, measuring nearly 8 cm, but tigers also seek out water to swim and hunt, unlike most other big cats.
Moreover, tigers have night vision that is six times better than humans. The roar of a tiger travels at infrasonic frequencies, below the threshold of human hearing, allowing them to hear this sound from up to 3 kilometers away.
Overall, tigers are agile animals, with flexible bodies designed for running, jumping, and climbing. Their muscular forelimbs, retractable claws, strong jaws, sharp teeth, and keen senses make them incredible hunters in the wild.
Tigers have the longest canine teeth among big cats. (Photo: Animal Planet).
In addition to their formidable hunting prowess, tigers have another essential aspect for survival: their diet.
As we know, tigers are carnivores, capable of eating any animal. As long as it is protein, they will not refuse it. Their non-selective eating habits are largely related to the unique structure of their tongues.
What Makes the Tiger’s Tongue Special?
This is a close-up of the tiger’s “spiky” tongue. Just looking at it reveals its potential for causing significant damage to the flesh of its prey.
The tiger’s tongue is covered with small, hard, hooked structures called papillae—making it an ideal tool for scraping meat off the bones of its prey when eating.
In reality, due to the tiger’s enormous size, its tongue is also quite large. The most important fact is that the tiger’s tongue has very sharp papillae, which are larger than those found on domestic cats.
The fearsome papillae on a tiger’s tongue are, in fact, hidden weapons. When a tiger kills its prey and begins to enjoy its meal, some of the meat will inevitably get stuck to the bones; at that point, the tiger’s tongue functions to scrape the meat off the bones.
Additionally, tigers are known to have very coarse fur. To make it smoother, they have to use their tongues with the sharp papillae to groom their fur and clean their “coats.”
Of course, besides being filled with papillae, the tiger’s tongue has another crucial feature: it has very few taste buds. The number of taste buds relates directly to the sensitivity to the flavors of food. Fewer taste buds mean that tigers are less sensitive to the taste of food, so they are not picky eaters.
In summary, the tiger’s tongue is a fearsome existence. Thanks to this unique tongue, they consume a significant amount of protein, making them one of the most powerful creatures on Earth, truly the “Lords of the Jungle.”
The tiger named Gopal is a victim of human-wildlife conflict. Born in the wild, Gopal conflicted with humans when it was discovered hunting livestock in Nagarahole National Park (India). Gopal now lives in a vast forested area at the Bannerghatta Tiger Reserve in Bannerghatta National Park (India). (Photo: Wildlife SOS/Lenu Kannan).
These unique biological characteristics of tigers illustrate how extraordinary and worth protecting our natural world is. However, a sad reality is that over the past century, wild tiger populations have plummeted to alarming lows.
According to the Wildlife Justice Commission (based in the Netherlands), while tigers are negatively affected by climate change, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflict, the illegal trade of tigers is considered the most urgent threat.
Currently, tigers are classified as a species under CITES Appendix I, meaning they are at risk of extinction. In the past 100 years, we have lost 97% of wild tiger populations. At the current rate, all wild tiger species globally could become extinct within the next five years.
