🐾 Tiger

Tiger

▶

▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶

Tap a video to play it

🔍 See more videos →

Photos

✖ ❮ ❯

Who it is

• Scientific name: Panthera tigris
• Family & relatives: Living subspecies include Bengal, Siberian (Amur), Sumatran, Indochinese, Malayan, and South China tigers; closely related to the other big cats of Panthera.
• How to spot it: Largest cat, with an orange coat and unique black stripes; every tiger's stripe pattern is different, like a fingerprint.

Its body & abilities

• Size: Body 2.5-3.9 m long including tail; about 1 m at the shoulder.
• Weight: Siberian males up to 300 kg; females typically 100-180 kg.
• Body & adaptations: Muscular forelimbs, retractable claws up to 10 cm, and the longest canines of any big cat; stripes break up its outline for camouflage.
• Top speed: Can run up to about 65 km/h in short bursts.
• Strength: Bite force around 1000 psi and can leap 5-6 m; a strong swimmer that crosses wide rivers.
• Senses: Night vision about six times sharper than a human's, plus excellent hearing and smell.
• Growing up: Cubs are born blind, open their eyes at about two weeks, and become independent around 2 years, mature by 3-4 years.

Where it lives

• Habitat: From tropical rainforests and mangrove swamps to grasslands and snowy Siberian forests.
• Where in the world: Scattered across South and Southeast Asia, plus the Russian Far East.
• Territory: Solitary and territorial; a male's range can top 100 km2 and overlaps several females.

What it eats

• Diet: Pure carnivore that drinks often and loves water, cooling off in rivers and pools.
• Favorite foods: Deer, wild boar, water buffalo, and other large mammals.
• How it hunts: A patient stalk-and-ambush hunter that uses cover to get close, then pounces with a killing neck bite.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Padded paws let it stalk silently; walks, bounds, and swims with ease.
• When it is active: Mainly nocturnal, hunting at night and resting in shade during the heat of day.
• Family life: Solitary except mothers with cubs; a rare group is called a streak or an ambush.
• How it talks: Roars, chuffs, scent-sprays, and claw-marks on trees to signal identity and territory.
• Babies: After about 3.5 months gestation the female bears 2-4 cubs and raises them alone for around two years.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: Apex predator with no natural enemies as an adult; it keeps prey populations in balance.
• Conservation: IUCN Endangered; threatened by poaching, prey loss, and habitat destruction.
• Dangers: Poaching, conflict with humans, injury during hunts, and starvation are leading causes.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: About 10-15 years in the wild, up to 20-25 in captivity.
• In our culture: A symbol of power and protection across Asia, the national animal of India and star of tales from Shere Khan to Tigger.
• Where to see it: Wild in Indian reserves like Ranthambore and Bandhavgarh, and in accredited zoos worldwide.
• Fun fact: Unlike most cats, tigers love water and will happily swim for kilometers to cool off or cross rivers.