TheBengal tiger(Panthera tigris tigris) is the most numeroustigersubspecies. By 2011, the total population was estimated at fewer than 2,500 individuals with a decreasing trend. None of the 'Tiger Conservation Landscapes' within theBengal tiger's range is considered large enough to support an effective population size of 250 adult individuals.
Since 2010, it is listed asEndangeredon theIUCN Red List. As of 2010, Bengal tiger populations in India havebeen estimated at 1,706–1,909.As of 2014, they had reputedly increased to an estimated 2,226 individuals,but the method used in the census may not be accurate.
Bengal tigers number around 440 inBangladeshand 163–253 inNepal Prior censuses placed the population of tigers inBhutanat around 65-75 individuals, however, the latest census estimated that 103 wild Bengal tigers are living in the country.
Bengalis traditionally fixed as thetypicallocality for thebinomenPanthera tigris, to which the British taxonomistReginald Innes Pococksubordinated the Bengal tiger in 1929 under thetrinomenPanthera tigris tigris.The Bengal,CaspianandSiberian tigers, andlionrank among thebiggest cats.It is thenational animalof bothIndiaandBangladesh.