• 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.
• 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.
• 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 brownish-yellow 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.
Tigers are an endangered species. They
live in Asia in a variety of habitats: from
the tropical evergreen and deciduous
forests of southern Asia to the
coniferous, scrub oak, and birch
woodlands of Siberia. Researchers
think that there are between 5,000 and
7,500 wild tigers living in the world
today.