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is virtually invisible. Viewed from a short distance of even a few yards, a tiger is hard to spot. In the game parks, visitors are often dependent upon experienced guides to point out the giant cats, even when they are looking directly at the animal. Once seen, the tiger can shift slightly and disappear again. While it may seem to the casual observer that all tigers have similar, even identical, coloration and markings, there is a wide, if relatively subtle, range of colors, and in fact no two tigers have exactly the same mark- ings; even on an individual tiger, the mark- ings of the right and left sides are different. Stripes may be thinner or become spots. The number of variations is infinite. Similarly, there is no uniform color in the tiger’s coat. The fur ranges from a very light orange to dark shades of red and ocher.

It is the Indian, or Bengal, tiger that makes the most flexible use of its coat and markings. The Indian subcontinent has a wide variety of landscapes and temperatures, from the snowy forests of the Himalayas and the swampy Sundarbans to the parched scrubs of Raja- sthan. The Bengal tiger has adapted to each environment. The tiger’s color and markings amazingly serve as camouflage in a variety of geographical conditions. After seeing this distinctive animal unobstructed, with its bold color and unique pattern of stripes, it is hard to believe that it can blend in so efficiently in such a range of surroundings. In tall grass, the tiger’s body matches the stalks as its stripes become their shadows. In a bamboo forest, the tiger seems indistinguishable from the yellow trees. In the brown and yellow world of the deciduous forest, the tiger again

Though largely associated with thickly forested terrain, tigers also thrive in wet, swampy areas that provide dense vegetation for cover and are filled with abundant prey. One of the most noted of these is the Sundarbans

delta region of India and Bangladesh.

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