WaleedA Bengal tiger has an average lifespan of 8 to 10 years in the wild. The maximum lifespan of the wild specimen is about 15 years. Very few tigers reach the 15 years age in the wild because they eventually become too weak to hunt large animals.
In captivity, Bengal tigers can live as long as 18 to 20 years. Rarely do they live beyond 25 years. Bengal tigers are one of the few wild animals that do well in captivity. As is typical of all wild animals, the Bengal tiger has a shorter lifespan in the wild.
In captivity, Bengal tigers can live as long as 18 to 20 years. Rarely do they live beyond 25 years. Bengal tigers are one of the few wild animals that do well in captivity.
The wild cat finds it hard to hunt deer at the later stage of its life since it loses much of its physical agility and sometimes fangs. Very few individuals are fortunate enough to reach 15 or 16 years of age. Bengal tigers usually feed on smaller mammals (at this stage) because they are easily accessible. But these food sources are not good enough to provide them energy. So they will become weak each passing day.
When they attain 2 or 3 years of age they go independent from their groups. Young males begin to establish their own territory but young females do not move too far from the group. The female tigers probably live longer than the males.
References & Further Reading
Mazák, V. (1981). “Panthera tigris” (PDF). Mammalian Species. 152 (152): 1–8. JSTOR 3504004. doi:10.2307/3504004.
Clammer, Paul, Mahapatra Anirban (2016). Lonely Planet Bengladesh.
