Tigers
What do you already know about tigers?
Tigers are one of the ‘big cats’ living in the world. In fact they are the biggest of all of them, and are even bigger than lions.
Tigers can be found in small numbers living in places in Asia, with the largest amount living in India. They live in a variety of different habitats, such as tropical forests, grasslands and even mountain or marsh habitats. They also live in a variety of different climates, not minding if it is hot or cold.
Tigers can grow to be just over 3 metres long, with their tail making up about 1 metre of that. They have orange fur with a white tummy and black stripes all over. These amazing stripes are different on every single tiger and each one will have a unique pattern.
Tigers have white dots on the back of their ears called ocelli. Most of the time these dots face backwards, and almost look like eyes in the back of their heads. They can also move their ears so when drinking and looking down it looks like they are still watching!
Can you believe it...
Humans have trichromat vision so can see more colours. To us tigers look orange and stands out from its green surroundings.
Many animals have dichromatic vision, meaning they can’t tell the difference between reds and greens. This means a tiger's bright orange fur looks like muted green or brown to many of it’s prey helping it camouflage into its surroundings.
Tigers are incredibly endangered. There is thought to be just over 5500 tigers left living in the wild. Many thousands more live in captivity.
There is only one species of tiger. There is then six subspecies, including the Amur (or Siberian) tigers, Bengal tigers, Indo-Chinese tigers, Malayan tigers, Caspian tigers and South China tigers. Sadly three subspecies of tiger are actually extinct. They are Sumatran tigers, Bali tigers and Javan tigers. The South China tiger is also thought to be extinct in the wild.
The main reason tigers are endangered and becoming extinct is mainly because of humans. The tigers are hunted for their fur, which has amazing patterns on it. Some people sadly make things out of them, such as rugs and coats. Humans are also taking over their habitat so they don’t have enough places to live.
Despite there being very few tigers left there are people working really hard to help the tigers. In some places the number of tigers is very slowly increasing. Their numbers have increased from an all time low in 2010 of 3200.
Tigers live on their own, not with other tigers. They don’t like other tigers coming on to their patch or territory and will try and scare other tigers off. This is apart from when they are born. Tigers are usually born in groups of three or four. This group of little cubs will stay with their mother for about two years and then go off to live on their own.
Tigers are nocturnal and will hunt their prey at night. They are predators and hunt other animals to eat. They eat quite large animals such as deer, wild boar and baby elephants. Often they quietly follow their prey, getting really close and then pounce! They can use their massive paws to grab their prey and can often can kill with just one bite to the neck as they have such powerful jaws and such scary teeth! As they hunt quite big animals they will drag its food somewhere safe and eat it over a few days.
Like lions, tigers roar incredibly loudly. They also can make powerful low-frequency sounds too. It is believed this infrasound (that humans can’t hear) can terrify prey, causing them to freeze and panic, making it even easier for tigers to attack.
Unlike many cats, tigers really good swimmers and enjoy swimming in rivers and lakes. They are also good runners and can run at speeds of up to about 40 miles an hour when they need to.
What we've learnt...
Tigers are endangered. Three subspecies are already extinct and another is thought to be extinct in the wild too.
Tigers are the biggest ‘big cat’ in the world.
A tigers orange and striped fur helps them camouflage in their habitat.
Tigers prefer to live on the own and don’t live in groups.
Tigers are nocturnal and hunt other animals to eat at night.
Test your knowledge...
Tigers Quiz
If you click the correct answer the box will turn green. If its the wrong answer it will turn red and then show you what the correct answer was. Make sure you read or listen to the questions carefully!
#1. Where do tigers live in the wild?
#2. Are tigers or lions the biggest ‘big cats’?
#3. Do tigers like living in groups?
#4. Are some subspecies of tiger already extinct?
#5. When do tigers mainly hunt their prey?
Results
I really hope you have enjoyed learning all about tigers, with me Flash!
Question Time...
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