Welcome To Our Tigers Page!

Tigers are related to the common house cat. Their closest family is the lynx, bobcat, lion and jaguar. There are many different species of tiger, but all of them are in the same family.

There are four different species of tiger. Another four are already extinct. The Siberian Tigers (Panthera Tigris Altaica) of Russia and North Korea are the largest tigers weighing up to 700 pounds in males and 550 pounds in females. They can measure up to 13 feet in length! Bengal Tigers of India and Nepal average 450 pounds in males and 300 pounds in females. Bengal Tigers measure from eight to 10 feet in length. Sumatran and Indo-Chinese Tigers are the smallest and they have darker markings. All tigers have broad heads with long whiskers and small round ears.

Tigers live exclusively in Asia and some Asian islands.Their habitat can range from warm rainforests to marshes to evergreen forests and even dry grasslands. They prefer dense growth whether it is trees or grasses and shrubs. Siberian Tigers live in the northern evergreen forests and plains of Russia where in winter the temperature regularly reaches 40 degrees below zero Celsius. Sumatran, Bengal and Indo-Chinese tigers live in warm and often damp places in India, Nepal, Thailand, China, Sumatra, Korea, Vietnam and Burma.

Southern tigers still have thick fur coats. This means that they must cool off regularly. Most tigers are nocturnal.They sleep much of the day and hunt at night. Unlike lions, tigers hunt and live alone. They can travel noiselessly through the bush when they are hunting. Excellant eyes and ears help alert them to prey and danger.

Tigers mate between November and April. Every two years the female or tigress, gives birth to two or three cubs. Tiger cubs and are blind andthey weigh only 2.5 pounds! They are nursed on their mother's milk for 6 months. At 6 months the cubs begin following their mother on hunts. They learn how by watching her and by one year of age they are hunting for themsleves. By two years of age they live by themselves. in zoos tigers can live to be 25 years old. In the wild they probably live between 15 and 22 years.

Because it is a carnivore and a predator, tigers hunt other animals. It hunts by stalking its prey then ambushing it. If the tiger gets really close to the animal it is hunting it will pounce and try to bite its throat. A tiger fails at nine of ten hunting attempts. Tigers can eat up to 55 pounds of meat at one meal! They usually come back to their kill fior a few days and eat from it again. Tigers' prey can range from deer to pigs to cows, antelope, buffalo, elk, moose or guars.

Tigers were first tamed by the ancient Chinese. They used them to hunt other animals. Tigers have also been used to kill prisoners in jails, as entertainment in circuses, as traditional Chinese medicine and as mascots for teams and products. Tigers are endangered species. Many tigers were killed for sport and trophies after World War Two. They have also been culled because they prey on farm animals. As Asia's popultion explodes with growth people are moving into Tiger habitat and destroying it. Tigers' body parts are still used in the Chinese medicine trade. The tiger's only hope for survival is that humans will stop killing them by the thousands and that the preserves for tigers willbe able to sustain the tiger population. Whatever happens, we sincerely hope that tigers can be strong and survive forever.