TIGERS ARE MAGNIFICENT ANIMALS
Some amazing facts
Tiger in Kanha National Park. Photo taken by Anthony Marr on a March 1997 ecotour
The biggest cats (mammalian family Felidea) are tigers. Their original natural habitat ranged from steamy hot jungles to icy cold forests in Asia. There are five races (subspecies) of tiger alive in the world today.
The tiger's scientific name is Panthera tigris. Tigers are designated an endangered species. Only about 5,000 individual tigers are left in the wild. In the past 70 years three subspecies have been driven into extinction; the Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers.
Here are some interesting facts about tigers:
- Siberian tigers are the heaviest subspecies, weighing in at 500 or more pounds (225 kg). In all subspecies the males are heavier than the females.
- Sumatran tigers are the lightest subspecies at 250 lbs.(110 kg) for males and 200 lbs. (90 kg) for females.
- A tiger's tail is 3 to 4 feet long, about half as long as its body. Tigers use their tails for balance when they run and make fast turns. They also use their tails to communicate with other tigers.
- Tigers have round pupils in contrast to domestic cats which have slit pupils. Tigers have yellow irises. They see in colour. Due to a retinal adaptation that reflects light back into the retina, the night vision of tigers is six times better than that of humans.
- Tigers have the largest teeth of all living felines. The canine teeth of the largest tigers measure as much as 3 inches (7.5 cm) long.
- A tiger's claws are 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) long. Like domestic cats, tigers can retract their claws. Tigers scratch trees to mark their territory.
- No one knows for sure why tigers are striped, but scientists think tiger stripes act as camouflage, helping them hide from their prey. The Sumatran tiger has the most stripes of all the subspecies; the Siberian tiger the fewest. Tiger stripes are like human fingerprints; no two tigers have the same pattern of stripes.
- Tigers are good swimmers and can easily cross rivers and streams as wide as 4 to 5 miles (6 to 8 km).
- The average tiger leap is 16 to 20 ft.(5 to 6 m) and some can jump as far as 26 to 33 ft.(8 to 10 m).
- The life span of tigers in the wild is about 10 years.
- Tiger cubs are born blind and weigh only 2 to 3 lbs.(1kg), depending on the subspecies. Tiger cubs are dependent on their mother for milk for 6 to 8 weeks before tagging along on their first hunts. Tigers have fully developed canines by 16 months, but they don't begin hunting themselves until about 18 months old.
- In contrast to lions, a tiger mother always gives her cubs priority when it comes to feeding, letting them eat their fill before she eats.
- Tigers can eat up to 60lbs. of meat at one time. After such a meal, they do not eat for several days.
- Unlike lions, adult tigers like to live alone (except for mothers with cubs). In the forest a single tiger can sneak up and surprise its prey better than a group of tigers could.
