Having orange as well as red shade, tigers are by far the biggest cats across the globe. With unique murky stripes spread out all over its body, it has a weight of almost 360 kilograms and length of about 1.8 meters. Also known as Panthera Tigris (scientific name), they hunt in the late hours of darkness and are strong enough to kill the prey on their own.
The way a tiger edges up toward its victim is exciting since the initial movement is somewhat slow followed by the sudden strike at the victim. With the help of powerful jawbones and muscles, the tiger is able to hold its prey from the neck and continues to hold it until its death.
Tigers do not gobble their entire prey in just one night rather they eat it when they are hungry. As a result, even a single prey may take several days to get finished.
As far as wild cats are concerned, tigers are the biggest in the world, they are bigger than lions.
Typically a tiger preys on its target without taking any help from other tigers and also love living on its own. The hunting times of this animal is normally in the twilight and sunrise hours and travels for almost 20 miles looking for a victim. With the help of its nimbleness (light-footedness) and jagged teeth, it can bring down almost any kind of animal.
The entire diet of a tiger revolves around eating meat and which makes it the biggest land-dwelling mammal on earth. A baby tiger is known as ‘cub’ which sticks to his mother for two years. Though cubs can prey on their own even after reaching one year of age, in spite of this, they try to stick with their mothers in order to learn hunting techniques.
We also have White Tiger Facts
We humans are the only predators of this animal primarily due to their fur coat and various other parts of its body and have almost driven them to extinction. A large majority of tigers wiped out entirely, due to the destruction of their natural environment by the humans.
Tiger Facts for Kids
- With such a heavy weight, tigers are capable to munch almost 5 kilograms of food everyday while sometimes they extend their intake to almost 30 kilograms in one go.
- In the blistering sunlight of summer, tigers visit the nearby lagoon too often to go for a dip in deep waters and can bathe at about 3.5 miles.
- As compared to the tigers living in the colder regions, the tigers living in humid conditions are relatively much smaller in size and lighter in weight.
- One of the most amazing tiger facts for kids is that the configuration of stripes of every single tiger differs from that of other just like our finger prints.
- Tigers are hard to track as they are expert in hiding their trails. They pull their claws in while strolling thus making themselves hard to track.
- They are capable to reside in almost any weather conditions and can stretch the tiger lifespan to about 26 years while in captivity.
- A unit (group) having more than one tiger is known as Ambush or sometimes streak.
- Unlike other animals, tigers go after their prey unaccompanied (alone).
- With so much speed and agility, more than 90% of the hunts for tigers remain as unsuccessful.
- Whether you like it or not, tigers living in their natural habitat are much less than those kept in zoo or any other private capacity.
- There are more than 100 shady stripes on each tiger and are beneficial because they enable them to hide under the bushes particularly while hunting their prey.
- Female tigers have less weight as compare to the male tigers.
- The tiger’s forelimbs are shorter than the hind limbs which is an adaptation for jumping. The forelimbs and shoulders are powerful than the hind limbs.
- Unlike other cats including cheetah and lion, tigers do not prefer to live in open habitats.
- The basic social unit of a tiger comprises of mother and a young. They are successfully bred in captivity in zoos and in other national parks.
- Females alone contribute towards raising their young ones.
- People are often led to believe that tigers are man-eaters, which is WRONG! They are not man-eaters.
- Normally they avoid making contact with humans and whenever they do so, the cat will disappear in the woods.
- The home range of a female tiger measures around 20 sq. km (8 sq. miles); however, males have much greater ranges measuring at 60 – 100 sq. km (23 – 40 sq. miles). It was found in the Chitwan National Park (Nepal) that the home ranges did not overlap those of their other counterparts. Several females come in the home range of a resident male.
- These cats are rarely known to move through the ranges of residents. Some species inhabiting Soviet Far East, tigers often move seasonally when the prey is scarce.
- The tigers’ eyes can be characterized by their round pupils and these pupils are not found in domesticated cats. The domestic cats show slitted pupils precisely due to their nocturnal nature whereas tigers are crepuscular—they come out for hunting at dawn or dusk. However they are often found hunting at night.
Read More: Do Tigers Live in Africa?
- Tigers have sharp night vision which is six times greater than that of humans. Generally however, tigers are not adept to hunt at dark.
- While all the tigers have yellow eyes, white tiger is the only species that has blue eyes. This bluish color is mainly due to the association of blue eyes gene with the white fur gene. Besides, some white tigers also show crossed blue eyes.
- Tigers mark their territories by excreting urine or scratching trees. Their urine has a strong smell like buttered popcorn.
- Male tigers generally have larger territories as compared to the females, which is why their territories are likely to overlap with each other. Males usually extend their territories in order to attract as much females as they can. This much overlapping is only observable in male-to-female territories; the female territories do not overlap with other females. Same is the case with males against their similar counterparts.
- Tigers never roar at other animals, instead they only do so in order to communicate with other tigers. Even the one who is aiming to attack never roars, it only makes fuffy or hissing sounds.
- After killing their prey, male tigers allow their females and young to feed on. They seldom go into rage with their family members. Lions however fight over a kill and they never wait for their females or young to eat first.
- The markings on the tigers’ fur are not only on the fur, it’s also found on a skin. Even if you shave the tiger, it would still show the same stripes.
- Almost half of the tigers do not reach adulthood as they are often killed in childhood.
- Tigers are capable to take quick bursts of 60km/h in short distances.
- These cats can jump vertically up to 5 meters. They cover 6 meters in a single leap. The powerful muscles of tigers are so strong that the cat could remain standing even when it dies.
Have you ever wondered Why are Tigers Endangered?
Most Amazing Tiger Facts
- Animal Planet supervised poll from 73 different countries to see the most favorite animal. Around 50,000 voters contributed and out of which tigers stood first in the competition receiving 21% of the votes.
- The nearest family member of a tiger is ‘lion’. Since tigers has two-shaded fleece over them, so it sets them apart from other wild cats because otherwise it would be tricky to single out tiger from lion.
- Out of the entire population of tigers in the wild, just about 3% are left behind (which is miserable) and 97% are completely wiped out in a period of just 100 years. Isn’t it one of the rarely told facts about tigers for kids?
- Tigers like to swim in freshwater as they are really great swimmers.
- What’s most amazing regarding facts about tigers for kids is that every tiger has its own distinctive stripe.
- Insofar as continents are concerned, tigers are restricted to Asia only. Though there are few family members of tigers in Africa like leopard, lion and cheetah yet not a single tiger lives in Africa.
- Out of 9 subspecies of tiger in the wild, now there are just 6 subspecies left behind as the remaining has become extinct.
- Siberian or Amur Tiger is the biggest subspecies.
- The tiniest subspecies of Tiger is known as Sumatran Tiger.
- Tigers are great swimmers and can go swimming for about 6 km.
- Not all the cats roar but just 4 of them have this capability.
- After polar and brown bears, tigers are the 3rd biggest land-dwelling carnivorous animal.
- The roar of tigers is so loud that it can even be picked up from two thousand meters away.
- You know why a tiger roars? Well, for two reasons; he is either defending his own territory or inviting his counterparts to mate.
- Tiger is really a ferocious predator and thanks to its big sharp teeth, it bumps off its victim with a just one bite.
- Tigers are not man eaters as you would expect.
- The footprints of a tiger are known as ‘pug marks’.
- The group of tigers is jointly known as streak.
- Humans are the only predators of tigers that have driven them to almost extinction.
- The oldest species of a tiger lived way back 2 million years before in Java and China.
- Almost 50% of all tiger cubs die before reaching even 2 years of age.
Do you know: What do Tigers Eat?
Baby tigers are known as “cubs” and are very easy on the eyes. A female may raise 6 baby tigers at the most but normally there are just 3 cubs in the litter.
The cubs make tracks as soon as they reach the age of 6 months in order to learn some tricks from their mom regarding different ways of hunting prey.
With the passage of time and after reaching the age of 1 year, they become strong enough to make after their victim however; normally they stick to their mom in this period of time.
More often than not, baby tigers fail to survive up to 2 years from the date of their birth and almost half of them make it. However, if they manage to survive after this period, they are left on their own to hunt. Thus, baby tigers form a major portion in tiger facts for kids.
Read More: Siberian Tiger Facts For Kids
How Do Tigers Hunt?
Tigers are often found to hunt alone while actively looking at their prey without making any sound of its footsteps. It will attack its prey either from back or from the side and will never attack from the front.
They are known to travel some 10 – 20 km (6 – 12 miles) in a single night for hunting. The probability of catching its prey is too low with only one become successful in 15 or 20 attempts. Tiger must draw its prey within 20 km (66 ft) or less before going for the final rush.
Read More: Bengal Tiger Facts For Kids
In case of larger prey, tigers have to go for a throat bite and the prey is mostly killed by suffocation. These cats hold a firm grip on prey several minutes even after the prey is killed. Once the prey is killed, the tiger will drag it in the shadow or habitat and where it will feed with cubs and other counterparts. Tigers can eat 20 – 35 kg (44 – 77 lb) of food in a single night but normally they will consume no more than 15 – 18 kg (33 – 40 lb) per day. Tigers do not leave their kill until all the skin and bones are fully consumes. On an average, a single tiger takes 2 – 3 days to eat its prey completely.
Read More: Which Tiger Species has gone Extinct?
Fast Facts about Tigers
Habitat: varied, including tropical rainforest, snow-covered coniferous and deciduous forests, mangrove swamps and drier forest types.
Size :
- head-to-tail-tip of male Indian 2.7 – 3.1 m (8.8 – 0.2 ft);
- shoulder height 91 cm (3 ft);
- female weight 180 – 260 kg (396 – 573 lb);
- female head-to-tail-tip 2.4 – 2.8 m (7.8 – 9.4 ft);
- weight 130 – 160 kg (287 – 353 lb).
- Male javan and Sumatran; head-to-tail-tip 2.2 – 2.7 m (7.2 – 8.9 ft);
- weight 100 – 150 kg (220 – 380 lb).
Gestation: 103 days
Longevity: about 15 years (to 20 years in captivity)
Subspecies: 8
A tiger drinks regularly during a meal, and in the wild will often drag its dead prey into cover in the vicinity of water.
The striking “white tiger” was once not rare in north and east central India, where the forbear of this zoo-bred animal originated.
Land tenure systems of tigers in Chitawan National Park, Nepal. Each male’s range encompasses those of several females. There is little or no overlap between individuals of the same gender in Chitawan. In other places female ranges may overlap.
Tiger Speed
The speed of tiger may stretch to nearly 40 miles per hour.
Tiger Jump
The tiger is able to leap up to 16 feet in the air.
Read More: Sumatran Tiger Facts
Classification of Tigers
Scientific Name: Panthera tigris
Family: Felidae
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Weight: 306 kilograms
Length: 3.3 meters
Number of Species: 6 out of 9 (three became extinct)
Average Life span: 20 – 26 years
Status: Endangered
Predators: Humans
Diet: Musk deer, sambar, moose, Malayan tapir, horses, chital, cattle, barasingha, wild boar, sika deer, dogs, gaur, hares, monkeys, nilgai, birds, camels, sloth bear, fish, crocodiles, leopards, roe deer, water and domestic buffaloes, saiga antelope, porcupines, rhino calf, wild boar, elephant calf, peafowls, muntjac, pythons, Caucasian wisent, Manchurian wapiti, yak.
Learn more:How Much Does a Tiger Weigh
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