Animal	Tiger
Scientific Name	Panthera tigris
Type	Mammals
Diet	Carnivore
Lifespan	8 – 10 years
Size	Length: 1.4 – 2.8 m
Weight	100 – 300 kg
Phylum	Chordata
Conservation status	Least concern > Near threatened > Vulnerable > Endangered > Critically endangered > Extinct in the wild > Extinct

Out of all big cats, tigers are the largest ones measuring up to 2.8 meters in length and weighing a max of 300 kilograms. They are found in east and south Asia. Depending on the tiger’s subspecies, its color may differ. An example of this is the Siberian tiger having a lighter coat than other subspecies.

Tigers are solitary animals. They mark their territories with their urine and females have smaller territories than males. The gestation period lasts for a little more than a hundred days and then they give birth to two to four cubs. At approximately 2 months, the cubs begin traveling with the mother outside of the den and become independent after nearly two years.

Aside from human poaching, tigers have no natural predators. Their prey may differ in different locations, but usually includes dear, buffalo, fish, reptiles, birds, monkeys, and rhino and elephant calves. There have been some reports of tigers killing and eating humans. Tigers hunt by themselves. To attack, they ambush the animal and knock them over, biting their throats and dragging it around, killing it. Forty kilograms of meat are eaten at once, and if the meal is still unfinished, they may return to it later to continue eating it.

White tigers, also known as bleached tigers, are rare. They are not albino nor a different species. Rather, they are a rare leucistic mutation where the pigmentation is different. Although rarely found in the wild, they are in demand at zoos, who are trying to breed this species.

Pseudo-melanistic tigers have also been reported. They have large, thick black stripes and most of the body is also black (View an image of one at the Nandankanan Zoological Park in India here, or in the slideshow at the top of the page). There have been sightings of fully black tigers between 1772 and today, although none of these reports are proven and confirmed.

There are many different tiger subspecies. The most popular is the Bengal tiger, which has a darker coat than some other tigers. Siberian tigers are critically endangered, along with the South China tiger and the Sumatran tiger. The Javan tiger, Caspian tiger, and Balinese tiger are all extinct.

---

References:

• Tiger on The Animal Files – https://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/carnivores/tiger.html
• Tiger on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger
• Black Tiger on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_tiger
• Tiger Attack on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_attack
• White tiger on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_tiger