the facts about the tiger

             Tiger, largest member of the cat family , rivaled only by the lion in strength and ferocity. The tiger is endangered throughout its range, which stretches from the Russian Far East through parts of North Korea, China, India, and Southeast Asia to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Siberian, or Amur, tiger is the largest, measuring up to 4 metres (13 feet) in total length and weighing up to 300 kg (660 pounds). The Indian, or Bengal, tiger is the most numerous and accounts for about half of the total tiger population. Males are larger than females and may attain a shoulder height of about 1 metre and a length of about 2.2 metres, excluding a tail of about 1 metre; weight is 160–230 kg (350–500 pounds), and tigers from the south are smaller than those of the north.

        The Indo-Chinese, and Sumatran  tigers are bright reddish tan, beautifully marked with dark, almost black, vertical stripes. The underparts, the inner sides of the limbs, the cheeks, and a large spot over each eye are whitish. The rare Siberian tiger has longer, softer, and paler fur. White tigers, not all of them true albinos, have occurred from time to time, almost all of them in India (see also albinism). Black tigers have been reported less frequently from the dense forests of Myanmar (Burma), Bangladesh, and eastern India. The tiger has no mane, but in old males the hair on the cheeks is rather long and spreading. Although most classifications separate the species into six subspecies, some merge subspecies or suggest that two tiger species exist,  on the mainland of Asia and of Java, Bali, and Sumatra.

The tiger usually hunts by night and preys on a variety of animals, but it prefers fairly large prey such as deer (sambar, chital, and swamp deer) and wild pigs. A special liking for porcupines, despite the danger of injury from their quills, is an exception. Healthy large mammals are generally avoided, although there have been recorded instances of the tiger’s having attacked elephants and adult water buffalo. Cattle are occasionally taken from human habitations, and some tigers can thrive on domestic livestock. After making a kill anvultures and other scavengers so that another meal can be obtained. Tigers are not averse to commandeering a kill from other tigers or leopards, and they sometimes eat carrion. Skill in killing and obtaining prey is only partly instinctive, maternal training being essential for proficiency. For this reason, tigers raised in captivity would not fare well if released into the wild. As the top predator throughout its range, the tiger plays a major role in controlling not only its prey population but that of other predators such as the leopard, dhole (Asiatic wild dog), and clouded leopard. No trait of the tiger has fascinated humans more than man eating. A number of reasons account for this—disability caused by age or injury, paucity of prey, acquisition of the habit from the mother, or defense of cubs or kill. With the reduction in the number of tigers, the occurrence of man-eating tigers has become rare except in the Sundarbans, the northeast Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and neighbouring Nepal in and around Royal Chitwan National Park.