Tigers are one of the worlds most majestic animals. They are also one of the worlds animals which are instantly recognizable and unmistakable, with their signature orange fur and black stripes.
Tigers are found in several different countries within Eurasia. They are found in: Russia, China, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, Bhutan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Nepal.
Today, Tigers have lost much of their historic range. In other words, Tigers have disappeared from lands that they once used to roam. It is estimated that Tigers have now lost a massive 95% of their historic range. This makes these gorgeous big cats one of the most endangered animals in the world today. However, there is still hope. Last year it was reported that the Tiger population in India grew by 33% over the last four years. In other positive news, the WWF is also trying to double the Tiger population by 2020!
Hopefully within the next few years, we will see the Tiger population grow even more. But for now, let's look at top five interesting facts about Tigers! đŻ
#5 The Size Of Tigers
Tigers are big animals. It's estimated that the average size of an adult Bengal Tiger can grow up to 9ft in length, this includes the Tigers head and their tail. The tails of Bengal Tigers are long, growing between 2ft and 3ft in length.
The size of Tigers depends on which subspecies they are. Amur Tigers are the largest subspecies of Tiger, they can grow just over 10 ft. Amur Tigers are also known as Siberian Tigers and they are the worlds largest cat today. Whereas, Sumatran Tigers are the smallest subspecies of Tiger; Sumatran Tiger adults grow to just over 8ft.
Tigers themselves are the worlds largest cat species today.
#4 The Different Subspecies Of Tigers
Tigers have a few different subspecies: there are a total of nine Tiger subspecies, some of these subspecies are living in the wild today (while some of the subspecies have now sadly gone extinct. These subspecies of Tigers which still exist today, live either within a few different Asian countries, or Russia.
You have already heard of three of these subspecies in this post: Bengal Tigers, Amur Tigers and Sumatran Tigers. The other subspecies of Tigers living in the wild today are as follows: South China Tigers, Malayan Tigers, Indochinese Tigers and Sumatran Tigers.
Two subspecies of Tigers which have now gone extinct are: the Bali Tiger and the Caspian Tiger. The last Bali Tiger was killed in the wild in 1937, they survived in captivity for sometime after that, but are now extinct. Caspian Tigers became extinct in the 1970s.
Javan Tigers also went extinct in the 1970s.
#3 Tiger Stripes Are Unique
Upon looking at them, Tigers don't seem that different - they appear to have the same fur coat and same stripes on their coat. However, every single Tiger has a unique coat: no two stripe patterns on a Tiger are the same. The stripes on a Tiger is like a human fingerprint - they are unique to the individual.
The different stripes that Tigers have on their body can help people to identify single Tigers in the wild. This can be useful for monitoring Tigers for things like saving the big cats from poachers. Tiger stripes can also be useful for wildlife conservationists, as the stripes can help scientists count the stripes on Tigers to identify them - this is a good way for scientists to know how many Tigers there are in the wild and what their population trend is.
#2 Rarest Subspecies Of Tiger
The different subspecies of Tigers have different populations. India has the biggest population of Tigers in the wild today, there are 2,967 wild Tigers in India today. The Tigers found in India are the Bengal Tigers.
South China Tigers haven't been found in the wild for decades now. However, there are thought to be around 100 South China Tigers in captivity today.
In the wild, Malayan Tigers have the lowest population of any subspecies. It is estimated that there are between 250 and 340 Malayan Tigers in the world today. The other subspecies of Tigers don't fair much better in the wild either: there are only between 331 and 393 Amur Tigers, the Sumatran Tiger population is less than 400 individual Tigers, there are between 480 and 540 Amur Tigers and the Indochinese Tiger has as few as between 600 and 650 Indochinese Tigers in the wild today.
Therefore, the rarest subspecies of Tiger is the South China Tiger and the rarest subspecies of Tiger in the wild today is Malayan Tigers.
#1 Tigers Feel Sadness
Evidence shows that all different types of animals experience sadness and grieve for their dead. Animals even have rituals when other animals die.
Animals also know when death happens to another.
Tigers are no different. Recent footage captured by BBC Earth showed a Tiger grieving for her dead mate. You can watch that clip below.