Tiger Facts
Quick Facts
Common Name: Tiger
Scientific Name: Panthera tigris
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata (Vertebrata)
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Pantherinae Panthera
Species: tigris
Sub-species:
Bengal Tiger - Panthera tigris tigris
Siberian (Amurian) Tiger - Panthera tigris altaica
Sumatran Tiger - Panthera tigris sumatrae
Indo-Chinese Tiger - Panthera tigris corbetti
Malayan Tiger - Panthera tigris jacksoni **
South China Tiger - Panthera tigris amoyensis
Javan Tiger - Panthera tigris sondaica - extinct since early 1980's
Bali Tiger - Panthera tigris balica - extinct since the 1940's
Caspian Tiger - Panthera tigris virgata - formerly thought to be extinct since the early 1970's *
IUCN Status: Endangered
Wild Population: Estimated between 3,726 and 5,578 individuals (Best estimate of 3,140 mature individuals)
Population Trend: Decreasing
Lifespan: Approximately 15 years in the wild; up to 26 years in sanctuary settings
Appearance
The tiger is the largest of all living felids, instantly recognizable by its vibrant reddish-orange coat decorated with unique black vertical stripes. Much like human fingerprints, no two stripe patterns are identical. These apex predators exhibit significant size variation depending on their environment. While the Amur (Siberian) tiger has historically been recorded as the largest—with some captive specimens reaching over 800 pounds—wild Bengal tigers in prey-rich regions like Nepal and India often reach comparable sizes, with males averaging 450 pounds.
Beyond their iconic orange fur, tigers possess immense physical power. They are built for strength, capable of dragging prey that would require a dozen men to move. They also feature symmetrical facial markings and, in some subspecies like the Sumatran tiger, males possess a prominent ruff of fur around the neck. While "white" tigers exist in captivity due to selective inbreeding, this color variation is not a separate subspecies and is virtually non-existent in the wild.
Habitat and Range
Tigers are incredible habitat generalists. Their range once spanned most of Asia, but they are now restricted to less than 7% of their historical territory. Today, breeding populations are confirmed in only ten countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, and Thailand. They have recently been declared extinct in Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR.
Their adaptability allows them to thrive in diverse ecosystems, including the snowy boreal forests of the Russian Far East, the mangrove swamps of the Sundarbans, tropical rainforests, and even high-altitude Himalayan forests up to 4,500 meters. The three essential requirements for any tiger habitat are dense vegetative cover, access to water, and a sufficient population of large prey.
Diet and Behavior
Unlike most other cats, tigers are exceptional swimmers and frequently use water to cool off or hunt, capable of crossing rivers nearly 20 miles wide. They are primarily solitary animals that maintain exclusive territories. A male’s range typically overlaps with those of several females but rarely with other males.
Tigers are stealthy hunters, operating mostly between dusk and dawn. They rely on ambush tactics to bring down large ungulates such as deer and wild boar. Because their success rate is low—often only one successful kill for every 10 to 20 attempts—they must consume large amounts of meat when they do succeed, sometimes eating up to 90 pounds in a single sitting. To maintain health and reproductive success, an individual tiger needs to take down approximately 50 to 60 large prey animals every year.
Reproduction
Tigers can mate throughout the year, though activity often peaks between late autumn and early spring. Following a gestation period of roughly 103 days, a female gives birth to a litter, typically averaging three cubs. These cubs are highly vulnerable and remain with their mother until they are between 18 and 28 months old.
Infant mortality is high, with roughly 35% of cubs not surviving their first year. Survival is often dictated by the mother's ability to protect the litter from threats such as fire, flooding, and infanticide by unrelated males. Females generally begin reproducing at three and a half years of age, while males start closer to five years.
Threats
The primary driver of the tiger's decline is the poaching of both the cats themselves and their prey. Tigers are targeted for the illegal international trade of their skins, bones, and other body parts used in traditional medicine and as status symbols. Even when tigers are not targeted, the widespread use of snares in Southeast Asia for other wildlife often leads to accidental tiger deaths.
Other critical threats include:
Habitat Fragmentation: The construction of roads, railroads, and industrial infrastructure carves up tiger landscapes, isolating small populations and leading to inbreeding.
Prey Depletion: Over-hunting of deer and wild boar by humans leaves tigers without the calories they need to survive and raise cubs.
Human-Wildlife Conflict: As habitats shrink, tigers may prey on livestock, leading to retaliatory killings by local communities.
Disease: Emerging threats like Canine Distemper Virus have caused significant losses in certain populations, particularly in Russia.
*1/16/09 A team of scientists from Oxford University and the NCI Laboratory of Genomic Diversity in the USA have discovered that the Caspian Tiger and the Siberian Tiger have the same DNA. The tiger sub-species studied were the Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata), the Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), the Indian - Bengal - tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) and the South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis). The Caspian tiger was found to differ by only one nucleotide of its mitochondrial DNA from the Siberian tiger: other tiger sub-species differ by at least two nucleotides.
**In 2004, the tigers of Peninsular Malaysia were recognized as a new subspecies, Panthera tigris jacksoni, when a genetic analysis found that they are distinct in mtDNA and micro-satellite sequences from tigers of northern Indochina, P. t. corbetti (Luo et al., 2004). However, Mazak and Groves (2006) found no clear morphological differences (in cranial measurements or pelage characteristics) between tigers from Peninsular Malaysia and those elsewhere in Indochina, and argue for inclusion in P. t. corbetti. P. t. jacksoni is provisionally accepted here. The geographic division between P. t. jacksoniand P. t. corbetti is unclear as tiger populations in northern Malaysia are contiguous with those in southern Thailand (T. Lynam pers. comm. 2008).
Tiger numbers for TCM
Misc: This species has been (and is still) widely hunted throughout its range for sport, for the fur trade, and for the traditional Asian medicine market. For the medicine trade - no part of the Tiger's body goes unused (see diagram below). The tiger is one of the best known mammals, and has become a symbol everywhere for conservation. Today, sadly, there are more tigers in captivity then exist in the wild. There are thought to be between 5,000 and 10,000 tigers in U.S. cages and 90% of them are in miserable roadside zoos, backyard breeder facilities, circus wagons and pet homes. Read about the conviction of those involved in canned hunts in the US.
The numbers on the tiger illustrate parts of the tiger that are traded on the black market. These myths are why the tiger has been hunted nearly to extinction.
Conservation Efforts
International conservation focuses on the "Global Tiger Recovery Program," which aims to stabilize and increase wild populations. Successes have been noted in India, Nepal, and Thailand, where rigorous monitoring and protected "Source Sites" have allowed numbers to rebound. These efforts include anti-poaching patrols, habitat restoration, and community engagement to reduce conflict.
Big Cat Rescue has actively contributed to these vital efforts by providing conservation funding for Corbett and WILD CARE Nepal, supporting the protection of tigers in the field where they need it most. By securing large, connected landscapes and protecting the prey base, conservationists hope to ensure the world's most iconic big cat continues to roar in the wild.
Watch the documentary The Tiger Next Door
Watch the documentary Tigers in the Suburbs part 1 and Tigers in the Suburbs part 2
(1) Natural World - Tiger Kill documentary aired 9/25/07 on Animal Planet
Meet the white tiger named Zabu who lives at Big Cat Rescue and Kenny, a white tiger who has passed on:
See Conservation Work Funded By Big Cat Rescue here:
All conservation insitu work: https://bigcatrescue.org/insitu/
