The Tiger

The Tiger is the largest of the big cats. Today Tigers are only found in South and Southeast Asia, China and the Russian Far East. Once there were nine subspecies of tigers: Bengal, Siberian, Indochinese, South Chinese, Sumatran, Malayan, Caspian, Javan and Bali. The last three of these are extinct, one is extinct in the wild, and the rest are on the endangered species list. In the Wild Tigers have a lifespan of 10 to 15 years. In Captivity they have been known to live up to 20 years.Most Tigers have long, thick reddish coats with white bellies and white and black tails with narrow stripes of black, brown or gray on their heads, bodies, tails and limbs. They have round pupils and yellow irises with the exception of the white tigers who generally have blue eyes. 
They have powerful jaws, shoulders and legs. Tigers range in length from 6.6 feet 2 feet of which is tail to 12.2 feet 3 feet of which is tail. They weigh up to 700 pounds for the largest Siberian Tigers to only 200 pounds for the smallest Sumatran Tigers.he Tiger’s stripes are a very useful camouflage, hiding the Tiger in long grass or reeds. Tigers are mostly nocturnal, active at night, and rely on that camouflage to ambush their prey. Tigers are the most powerful of the big cats. They can take down prey larger than themselves. They use their massive body weight to knock prey to the ground and kill with powerful jaws to the neck. Tigers are excellent swimmers and have been known to carry 300 pound animals with them while swimming. Depending on their environment Tigers eat monkeys, hares, deer, wild pigs, water buffalo, antelope, sloth bears, leopards, crocodiles and pythons. Older and injured tigers have been known to hunt humans and domestic cattle. Does that mean healthy, full grown tigers think humans are too easy or too dangerous?Tigers are fiercely territorial and mark their large home ranges. Their home ranges are often large areas of different habitats that meet the requirement of their various prey. Since some of these ranges are also in the most densely populated areas of the earth, this has caused significant conflict and interaction with humans.

Tigers essentially live solitary lives, except during mating season and when females bear young. Mother Tigers can have 3-4 cubs at a time. The cubs are born in dens. Mothers guard their young from predators and wandering male Tigers that may kill the cubs to cause the female to mate again. The cubs follow their mother out of the den at 8 weeks of age.