The tiger is the largest of the great cats Panthera tigris, formerly found in much of Central and South Asia but increasingly rare.
There are five species of tiger around today: Bengal, South China, Indochinese, Sumatran and Siberian. Caspian, Bali and Javan tigers are now sadly extinct.
Tigers survive in temperatures ranging from -35c in Russia to 48c in India.
The tiger is the largest big cat, reaching more than 11ft in length and weighing more than 850lb.
The largest living cat in the world is an adult male liger that's 3.33m (10ft) long and 1.25m (4ft 1in) tall at the shoulder. Hercules is a cross between a female tiger and a male lion and lives in a U.S. wildlife reserve in South Carolina. At 922 pounds he weighs more than twice as big as the average African lion.
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
Just like zebras no two tigers have the exact same stripes.
A tiger's tongue is so coarse, it can lick flesh down to the bone. If it licked your hand it would draw blood.
Their pupils are round because they hunt in the morning and evening - unlike nocturnal domestic cats, whose eyes have slits.
Tigers can run at speeds up to 40mph and leap 33ft- but nine in ten of their hunts fail.
In Nepal, tigers and people have learned to use the exact same forest trails at different times of day to reduce the chances of fatal encounters.
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| Pixiebay |
There are five species of tiger around today: Bengal, South China, Indochinese, Sumatran and Siberian. Caspian, Bali and Javan tigers are now sadly extinct.
Tigers survive in temperatures ranging from -35c in Russia to 48c in India.
ANATOMY
The tiger is the largest big cat, reaching more than 11ft in length and weighing more than 850lb.
The largest living cat in the world is an adult male liger that's 3.33m (10ft) long and 1.25m (4ft 1in) tall at the shoulder. Hercules is a cross between a female tiger and a male lion and lives in a U.S. wildlife reserve in South Carolina. At 922 pounds he weighs more than twice as big as the average African lion.
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
Just like zebras no two tigers have the exact same stripes.
A tiger's tongue is so coarse, it can lick flesh down to the bone. If it licked your hand it would draw blood.
 |
| Pixiebay |
Their pupils are round because they hunt in the morning and evening - unlike nocturnal domestic cats, whose eyes have slits.
Tigers can run at speeds up to 40mph and leap 33ft- but nine in ten of their hunts fail.
BEHAVIOR
In Nepal, tigers and people have learned to use the exact same forest trails at different times of day to reduce the chances of fatal encounters.
A tiger in India traveled more than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) in 2019 in search of a mate - the longest such walk ever recorded by a big cat in India. The tiger began its migration from the Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in the western state of Maharashtra. It criss-crossed through forests and populated urban areas before eventually settling in Dnyanganga Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra.
Female tigers are fertile for only four or five days a year, during which they mate frequently.
The gestation period for a tiger is about 113 days — and the mother normally gives birth to three or four cubs. A typical human pregnancy lasts 268 days.
Unlike most members of the cat family, tigers like water. They are good swimmers and often cool off in pools or streams.
Tigers cannot purr. To show happiness, tigers squint or close their eyes. This is because losing vision lowers defense, so tigers only purposefully do so when they feel comfortable and safe.
A Tiger's roar is so loud that is can be heard from over two miles away and can reach up to 114 decibels, which is about as loud as a jet airplane taking off.
Female tigers roar at much higher frequencies than male tigers.
Between 1800 and 2009, tigers killed an estimated 373,000 humans.
The Champawat Tiger, active mostly in the 19th century killed 430 people. That tiger killed more people than 300 years of worldwide shark fatalities, or more people than snakes, bears, wolves, and spider fatalities combined in the U.S. in the last 100 years.
The Champawat Tiger was eventually shot in 1907 by legendary hunter Jim Corbett.
In the 1980's, people living in the borders of forests in India and Bangladesh were issued plastic face masks to wear on the back of their heads. Tiger attacks virtually stopped because the tigers thought people were looking at them when their backs were turned.
Female tigers are fertile for only four or five days a year, during which they mate frequently.
The gestation period for a tiger is about 113 days — and the mother normally gives birth to three or four cubs. A typical human pregnancy lasts 268 days.
Unlike most members of the cat family, tigers like water. They are good swimmers and often cool off in pools or streams.
 |
| Pixiebay |
Tigers cannot purr. To show happiness, tigers squint or close their eyes. This is because losing vision lowers defense, so tigers only purposefully do so when they feel comfortable and safe.
A Tiger's roar is so loud that is can be heard from over two miles away and can reach up to 114 decibels, which is about as loud as a jet airplane taking off.
Female tigers roar at much higher frequencies than male tigers.
RELATION WITH HUMANS
Between 1800 and 2009, tigers killed an estimated 373,000 humans.
The Champawat Tiger, active mostly in the 19th century killed 430 people. That tiger killed more people than 300 years of worldwide shark fatalities, or more people than snakes, bears, wolves, and spider fatalities combined in the U.S. in the last 100 years.
The Champawat Tiger was eventually shot in 1907 by legendary hunter Jim Corbett.
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| Man-Eater of Champawat. |
In the 1980's, people living in the borders of forests in India and Bangladesh were issued plastic face masks to wear on the back of their heads. Tiger attacks virtually stopped because the tigers thought people were looking at them when their backs were turned.
In some parts of India, when a tiger kills someone in the forest a red cloth is tied to a tree to mark the spot where they are killed and to show where a tiger has been hunting.
On December 25, 2007, a tragic incident occurred at the San Francisco Zoo. A 4-year-old Siberian tiger named Tatiana escaped from her enclosure and attacked three visitors, sadly resulting in the death of 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. and injuring two brothers, Amritpal and Kulbir Dhaliwal. Tatiana was eventually shot and killed.
The number of tigers in the wild has decreased from 100,000 to 3,000-4,000 over the past century. They have also lost about 93 per cent of their natural habitat.
The map below shows the tiger's historic range in about 1850 (pale yellow) and in 2006 (in green).
In 1973 Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, was launched in the Corbett National Park, India.
In 2010, at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit, July 29 was declared to be Global Tiger Day, after it was found that 97% of all wild tigers had disappeared in the last century, with about only 3,000 of them remaining. The declaration committed 13 tiger range countries to double the number of wild tigers by 2022. The goal of Global Tiger Day is to raise awareness about the conservation of tigers and to promote a global system for protecting their natural habitats.
There are as many as 7,000 tigers living in the US either in zoos or privately owned, according to some estimates. The figure greatly exceeds the estimated 3,200 population that exist in the wild in the rest of the world.
There are more tigers in captivity in Texas than in the wild worldwide.
The Siberian tiger is the largest member of the cat family. Only about 500 remain in the wild. In 1995, the zoo on the English island of The Isle of Wight had to give special training to its Siberian tigers as it was the first time they had ever seen snow.
A group of tigers is called a 'streak' or an 'ambush.'
The tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam.
Sabre-toothed tigers were not technically tigers but a breed of the prehistoric cat Smilodon fatalis.
Siberian tigers are the only predators to have been documented preying on fully grown bears.
In 2006 Australian researchers found that goats can be scared off by the smell of tiger excrement.
Sources Daily Express, Daily Mail
CONSERVATION
The number of tigers in the wild has decreased from 100,000 to 3,000-4,000 over the past century. They have also lost about 93 per cent of their natural habitat.
The map below shows the tiger's historic range in about 1850 (pale yellow) and in 2006 (in green).
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| The Technical Assessment: Setting Priorities for the Conservation and Recovery of Wild Tigers: 2005–2015, |
In 1973 Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, was launched in the Corbett National Park, India.
In 2010, at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit, July 29 was declared to be Global Tiger Day, after it was found that 97% of all wild tigers had disappeared in the last century, with about only 3,000 of them remaining. The declaration committed 13 tiger range countries to double the number of wild tigers by 2022. The goal of Global Tiger Day is to raise awareness about the conservation of tigers and to promote a global system for protecting their natural habitats.
Since 2010, there has been some progress in tiger conservation. The number of wild tigers has increased by about 20%, and there are now an estimated 3,900 tigers in the wild. However, tigers are still facing many threats, including habitat loss, poaching, and climate change.
There are as many as 7,000 tigers living in the US either in zoos or privately owned, according to some estimates. The figure greatly exceeds the estimated 3,200 population that exist in the wild in the rest of the world.
There are more tigers in captivity in Texas than in the wild worldwide.
The Siberian tiger is the largest member of the cat family. Only about 500 remain in the wild. In 1995, the zoo on the English island of The Isle of Wight had to give special training to its Siberian tigers as it was the first time they had ever seen snow.
 |
| Pixiebay |
FUN TIGER FACTS
A group of tigers is called a 'streak' or an 'ambush.'
The tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam.
Sabre-toothed tigers were not technically tigers but a breed of the prehistoric cat Smilodon fatalis.
Siberian tigers are the only predators to have been documented preying on fully grown bears.
In 2006 Australian researchers found that goats can be scared off by the smell of tiger excrement.
Sources Daily Express, Daily Mail
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