Tigers
endangered animals
Classification
Tigers belong to the cat family. A tiger is easily recognised by it's reddish/orange coat with black stripes. The Tiger is the largest wild cat in the world.
Appearance
Tigers have black white and orange stripes all over their body. No two tigers have exactly the same pattern of stripes.
Tigers weigh from 100 to 250 kilos, males are larger than females.
Tigers that live in cold areas are usually bigger and heavier than those that live in warmer habitats.
Habitat
Tigers live in the jungle Tigers can be found in the areas from India to China and Southeast Asia. The northern part of the territory is near the Amur River, which in turn is in the south eastern part of Siberia. Sumatra is the only large island that is still populated by tigers.
Tigers live in both hot and cold climates as well as swamps. They are never found far from water. Unlike most members of the cat family, tigers love water. They are good swimmers and often soak in streams or pools of water to cool off.
In captivity, a tiger can live to be 26 years old.
Many species of the tiger are endangered or extinct. Humans are the main reason for this through hunting and the destruction of habitats.
Diet
Tigers eat small animals such as turtles and frogs, as well as large animals like buffalo and large deer.
Tigers usually hunt alone at night, they can see well in the dark
.
They have been known to eat as much as 27kilos of meat in one night.
It may take days for a tiger to finish eating its kill. The cat eats until it is full, then covers the body with leaves and dirt until it is hungry again. It does this until the meat is all gone.
Movement
Tigers move on four legs. They run almost as fast as cheaters. There movement is the same as cats.
Tigers have been known to run as fast as 65 kilometres per hour.
They can easily jump over 5 metres in length.
Repreduction
A female tiger may have from one to six cubs in a litter, normally about two to three. The mother raises them on her own.
Tiger cubs leave their mother when they are around 2 years old. Only about half of the tiger cubs will live to be older than 2.
Other intresting facts
Tigers are one of the best swimmers and can swim up to 6 kilometres.
A tiger roar can be heard from as far as 3 kilometres away.
There are more tigers held as pets than there are in the wild.
A group of tigers is known as an 'ambush' or 'streak'.