Tiger (Panthera tigris)

Tiger overview

The tiger is the largest living cat, instantly recognizable by its orange coat with dark vertical stripes, a pattern unique to each individual. Tigers are solitary ambush hunters that patrol large territories, mostly at night, and unlike most cats they readily enter water and swim well. The species once ranged from Turkey to the Russian Far East and south to Bali, but it has lost more than 90 percent of that range in the past century. Two subspecies are now recognized: the continental tiger, which includes Bengal, Amur, Indochinese and Malayan populations, and the Sunda tiger, which survives only on Sumatra.

How Long Do Tigers Live?

Tigers live 10–15 years in the wild and 20–25 years in zoos. Few wild tigers die of old age; injuries from prey or rival tigers, poaching and starvation once their teeth wear down are the usual causes. Around half of all cubs die before reaching two years old.

How Much Does a Tiger Weigh?

Adult tigers weigh 75–260 kg (165–575 lb). Males of the large Bengal and Amur populations typically weigh 180–260 kg and females 100–170 kg, while Sumatran tigers are much smaller at 75–140 kg. Exceptional males have exceeded 300 kg, but such weights are rare records.

How Tall Is a Tiger?

A tiger stands 0.8–1.1 m (2.6–3.6 ft) tall at the shoulder. Head-and-body length is 1.4–2.8 m, and the tail adds another 0.6–1.1 m, so a big male can measure over 3 m from nose to tail tip.

How Fast Can a Tiger Run?

Tigers can run at 49–65 km/h (30–40 mph), but only over short distances. They are ambush predators that creep to within 10–20 meters of prey before a sudden rush, and most hunts fail; only about one attempt in ten to twenty ends in a kill.

How Long Is a Tiger Pregnant?

A tigress is pregnant for about 103 days, with a range of 93–112 days. She gives birth to two to four blind cubs in a sheltered den and raises them alone. Cubs begin hunting with their mother at around six months and stay with her for about two years.

What Do Tigers Eat?

Tigers are carnivores that prey mainly on deer and wild pigs, along with wild cattle such as gaur. A tiger typically kills one large animal about once a week, drags it into cover and feeds on it for several days, eating as much as 20–35 kg in a night.

Diet type: carnivore. Mainly large hoofed mammals such as sambar, chital, red deer, wild boar and gaur; tigers also take smaller prey, occasionally livestock, and can eat 20–35 kg of meat in one sitting.

Where Do Tigers Live?

Tigers live in a wide range of Asian habitats, from tropical rainforest, mangrove swamps and tall grasslands in India to snowy birch and pine forests in the Russian Far East. They need dense cover, water and plenty of large prey. India is home to roughly three-quarters of all wild tigers.

Are Tigers Endangered?

The tiger is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The 2022 assessment estimated about 3,700–5,600 wild tigers; numbers are rising in India, Nepal and Russia but falling or gone across much of Southeast Asia. Poaching for skins and body parts, loss of prey and habitat loss are the main threats.

Endangered

Tiger fun facts

• No two tigers have the same stripe pattern, and the stripes are also present on the skin beneath the fur.
• Tigers are strong swimmers and have been recorded crossing rivers several kilometers wide.
• A tiger's roar can be heard from up to about 3 km (2 miles) away.
• More tigers live in captivity, including an estimated 5,000 in the United States alone, than survive in the wild.
• White tigers are not a separate species or albinos; they are Bengal tigers with a rare recessive gene for pale fur.

Rankings and comparisons

Tiger FAQ

Related animals

All mammals