Facts About Tiger

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is one of the four species of the cat family (Felidae) belonging to the genus Panthera. It is found only in Asia, is a carnivorous predator, and is the largest feline species in the world and can reach a size comparable to the largest fossil cats.

There are six subspecies of tiger, of which, the Bengal is the most numerous, their numbers are about 80% of the total population of the species found in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma and Nepal. It is an endangered species, and at present most of the tigers in the world live in captivity. The tiger is the national animal of India.

It is a solitary and territorial animals which generally inhabit dense forests, but also open areas, such as sheets. Normally, the tiger hunt animals of medium size or large, usually ungulates. The existing six different subspecies of tiger, is a very significant change in size. The male tigers are much larger than females. Similarly, the territory of a male usually covers an area larger than a female.

The tiger is the largest feline in the world record weight in the wild of an adult male is more than one third of a tonne. The size of tigers and other characteristics vary from one subspecies to another. In the wild, male tigers have a weight between 100 and 306 kg, and a length including the tail (which is between 60 and 100 cm in the largest males) between 2.13 and 3.35 m. While the females, much smaller, have a weight of 85-167 kg, all from the tigers of Sumatra (the smaller subspecies) to Amur tigers (the largest subspecies).

Most tigers have an orange or fawn coat, an intermediate area and ventral whitish stripes vary in tone from dark brown to black. The form and number of stripes vary between different subspecies, but most tigers tend to have less than 100 lines. The stripe pattern is unique to each, and may use this to identify an individual, in the same way that fingerprints are used to identify an individual. However, due to how difficult it is to record the pattern of stripes on a wild tiger, this is not the method used for identification of a tiger. Probably, the role of stripes is camouflage, is useful to hide from potential prey. The striped pattern is also found in the skin of the tiger, as if shaved, its distinctive stripes can be observed. Like most cats, tigers are believed to have some color vision. Like the other members of the genus, the tiger has the ability to roar.