Tiger is the largest member of the cat family. People admire the tiger for its strength and beauty, but they also fear it because it has been known to kill and occasionally eat people. Yet wild tigers prefer to avoid human beings. Tigers that kill and eat people are most often sick or wounded animals that can no longer hunt their natural prey. A hungry tiger may also attack people if prey is extremely scarce.
Wild tigers are found only in Asia. Until the 1800′s, many tigers lived throughout much of the southern half of the continent. Now only a few wild tigers remain in most countries, and none of the animals are left in Iran and Pakistan. Tigers can live in almost any climate. They need only shade, water, and food. Tigers are found in the rain forests of Thailand; the hot, dry thorn woods of India; and the cold, snowy, spruce forests of Siberia. Tigers also live in mangrove swamps, marshes, and tall grasslands. In general, tigers like to be in shade. They seldom go into the open plains as lions do.
The body of a tiger. Most adult male tigers weigh about 420 pounds (190 kilograms) and are 9 feet (2.7 meters) long, including a 3-foot (0.9-meter) tail. Most adult tigresses (females) weigh about 300 pounds (140 kilograms) and are 8 feet (2.4 meters) long. The tiger’s coat ranges from brownishyellow to orange-red and is marked by black stripes. Each tiger has a unique stripe pattern, which is as distinctive as a human fingerprint. The fur on the throat, belly, and insides of the legs is whitish. Many tigers, especially the males, have a ruff of hair around the sides of the face. The tigers that live in Siberia, where winters are bitterly cold, have shaggy winter coats.
Some tigers have chalk-white fur with chocolate-brown or black stripes. These tigers, called white tigers, are also distinctive because they have blue eyes. All other tigers have yellow eyes. White tigers are very rare in the wild. More than 100 white tigers live in the world’s zoos. They are all descendants of a white cub caught in India in 1951. A normal-colored tigress can give birth to a litter in which some of the cubs are white.
Tigers and lions look similar except for the color and length of their hair. The two species have even mated in zoos and produced offspring called ligers or tigons. How a tiger hunts. Tigers hunt large mammals, such as deer, antelope, wild cattle, and wild pigs. They may even attack young rhinoceroses and elephants. They also catch such small animals as peafowl, monkeys, and frogs. At times, tigers attack porcupines, but the porcupine’s quills may stick in the tiger’s face and body, causing painful wounds. In many parts of Asia, tigers prey on domestic cattle and water buffalo, especially where hunters have greatly reduced the amount of wildlife.
The tiger usually hunts at night, wandering along animal trails and dry stream beds. A tiger depends chiefly on its sharp vision and keen hearing, but it may also use its sense of smell. After stalking closely or waiting in cover, the tiger rushes at its prey in several bounds. Using its sharp claws, the tiger grasps the victim by the rump or upper body and pulls it down. Its large canine teeth are well suited for holding prey and for killing it.
Tigers are extremely swift for short distances. However, if a tiger fails to catch its prey quickly, it usually will give up because it soon tires. As long as a week may go by without a successful hunt. After a kill, the tiger drags the carcass (dead body) to thick cover. The tiger’s neck, shoulders, and forelegs are very powerful. A tiger may drag the body of a 500-pound (230-kilogram) water buffalo for 1/4 mile (0.4 kilometer). The tiger stays near the carcass until it has eaten everything except the large bones and stomach. A tiger may eat at least 50 pounds (23 kilograms) of meat in a night. A tiger often takes a long drink of water and a nap after a meal.
The life of a tiger. Adult tigers usually live alone but are not unfriendly with one another. Two tigers may meet on their nightly rounds, rub heads in greeting, and then part. Several may share in eating a killed prey. Adult males often claim their own territory and try to keep other males out. In areas with abundant prey, such territories may average about 20 square miles (52 square kilometers). The male tiger marks trees in his territory with his scent and urine. The scent tells other tigers that the territory is occupied. A male’s territory overlaps the territories of two or more females. Female territories are smaller than a male’s. Each tiger wanders alone, but they communicate with each other. In addition to scent, they communicate with sounds, including a roar that can be heard for up to 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) or more. Some tigers do not have territories and travel widely.
A tigress usually bears her first cubs when she is 31/2 to 4 years old. She carries the young within her body for about 31/2 months. She then gives birth to from one to six cubs, though usually two or three. Newborn cubs are helpless and weigh about 2 to 3 pounds (0.9 to 1.4 kilograms). Tiger cubs, like kittens, are playful. They are wholly dependent on their mother for food until they are about a year old. Even then, they cannot kill a large animal. Cubs become fully independent at about 2 years old. Female cubs then often settle down in a territory near their mother. Males tend to roam far from their birthplace. Tigers live up to 20 years in the wild.
Tigers are good swimmers. They may swim across rivers or between islands. On hot days, they may cool off in water. Tigers can climb trees but usually do not. Tigers and people. People have greatly reduced the number of tigers by killing them and by clearing the forests in which they lived. Scientists generally recognize eight varieties of tigers. Of these, three varieties are now extinct and several other varieties are rare. Only about 20 South China tigers and about 200 Siberian tigers survive in the wild. Several countries, especially India and Nepal, protect tigers in nature reserves. The survival of wild tigers depends on such efforts. Tigers are easy to breed and raise in zoos. Cubs are popular with zoo visitors. Adult tigers are often trained to perform in circuses. They jump through hoops and are even ridden. Today, enough tigers are born in captivity that no more need to be captured for zoos. Scientific classification. Tigers belong to the genus Panthera in the cat family, Felidae. All tigers are of the same species, P. tigris.
