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Tigers are one of the most instantly recognisable animals in the world. As an apex predator, they spend their time roaming their territories in mainland Asia, Russia and the Greater Sunda Islands, stalking prey in the dark.
There used to be nine subspecies of tiger, three of which are now extinct. Recently, scientists have decided to regroup the old tiger subspecies into two new subspecies. These are the Continental tiger (Panthera tigris ), and the Sunda tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica).
The old subspecies are split into these new subspecies by the tiger’s geography.
The Continental tiger encompasses the tiger populations from mainland Asia and Russia. These include:
The Sunda tiger encompasses the tiger populations from the Greater Sunda Islands, which are Borneo, Java, Sulawesi and Sumatra. The tigers in this subspecies are:
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Twinkl Explainer If a species of animal is extinct, it means that it no longer exists. If a species of animal is functionally extinct, it means that there are so few living specimens of the species that the population will never recover. |
|
Type |
Mammal |
|
Diet |
Carnivorous |
|
Habitat |
Depends on the subspecies. Habitats include grasslands, forests and mangroves. |
|
Size & Weight |
180 to 300 cm in length 100 to 270 kg |
|
Life Span |
Average of 10 to 15 years in the wild |
|
Located In |
Isolated parts of mainland Asia, Russia and the Greater Sunda Islands |
|
Kingdom |
Animalia |
|
Phylum |
Chordata |
|
Class |
Mammalia |
|
Order |
Carnivora |
|
Suborder |
Feliformia |
|
Family |
Felidae |
Tigers are known for their striped fur. All tigers have vertical stripes covering their body in dark brown or black. It’s thought that these stripes help the tigers with camouflage, which means they can blend into their habitat and become hard to see. This is very important, as tigers stalk their prey, so they need to be able to move without being seen.
You don’t just get tigers with orange fur. Certain types of tigers have recessive genes that alter the colour of their fur. This is why there are white tigers (white fur with dark stripes) and golden tigers (pale gold fur with brown stripes). Unfortunately, some people breed tigers specifically for these fur colours, which often leads to the tigers having lots of health issues.
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Did you know? Every tiger’s stripes are unique, just like humans and their fingerprints. |
Tigers are the largest species of big cat on the planet, with male tigers being up to 1.7 times larger than females. A fully grown male tiger can weigh up to 270 kg and be up to 3 metres long. (The average pet cat that you’ll find inside a house only weighs around 4 kg!)
A tiger’s tail can grow up to between 60 and 90 cm long. These tails are needed to help the tigers stay balanced as they navigate their habitat. They can also help show the mood of the tiger. Tigers also have very big teeth. Their canine teeth, which are pointed teeth used for holding food and as defence, can reach 90 mm long.
The largest tigers are the Bengal and Siberian tigers, from the Continental tiger subpopulation. The smallest tigers are the Sumatran tigers, which live on the Sunda Islands.
Like the vast majority of mammals, tigers give birth to live young that feed on their mother’s milk until they're old enough to eat solid food. After this, they grow and mature until they’re ready to live in their own territories.
Tigers have no fixed breeding period, which means that tiger cubs can be born at any point in the year. The most common time for a tiger to give birth is in the spring. Tigers give birth to between two and four cubs every two years. The tiger cubs are born with their eyes closed, taking six to eight weeks to gain their eyesight. Tiger cubs also start to eat meat at around eight weeks, too.
Unfortunately, tiger cubs have a high mortality rate, with only 50% of tigers reaching two years old. This is for a number of reasons. Food scarcity can mean that only the stronger cubs eat enough, and sometimes, mature male tigers attack tiger cubs.
Juvenile tigers stay with their mother until they’re large and strong enough to feed themselves. This can take up to two years. The mother won’t have any more cubs until all of her cubs have grown up and found their own territory.
Female tigers tend to find their own territory close to their mother to start off, slowly moving further away as they get older. Male tigers, on the other hand, find territories further away from their mothers and siblings.
Once old enough to live in their own territory, tigers are solitary animals. A tiger’s territory is dependent on how much food is available, with territory in locations like Manchuria being up to 1,000 square miles.
Despite being solitary animals, scientists have recorded instances of male tigers sharing their food with female tigers and their cubs, though these relationships haven’t lasted for long.
Female tigers reach maturity between three and five years of age and can reproduce after that. In the wild, tigers tend to live for between 10 and 15 years. The oldest known tiger lived in captivity to the age of 26.
Many tigers don’t live for long in the wild. Habitat loss and poaching, both from humans, have led to massive drops in the numbers of tigers in the wild, making them an endangered animal. An endangered animal is an animal that is at serious risk of extinction.
Tigers are carnivores, which means that they only eat meat. They hunt on their own at nighttime and can eat up to 38 kg of meat at a time.
Tigers are apex predators, meaning that they are at the top of their food chain and there are no animals that prey on them. As apex predators, tigers play an important role in the ecosystems of their habitats by controlling the numbers of animals lower than them in the food chain.
Due to their size, tigers tend to eat medium and large-sized mammals like deer, wild boar and buffalo. They’ll also prey upon other predators like bears as well as other big cats, such as leopards. Tigers have also been known to eat smaller mammals like monkeys and ground-based birds.
Tigers are found in the wild in small pockets of land around mainland Asia, Russia and the Greater Sunda Islands. They need lots of space for their territory, which is dictated by the amount of prey available.
Tigers can be found in places like forests, jungles, mangroves and grasslands.
The countries in mainland Asia where Continental tigers live in the wild are:
The only island of the Greater Sunda Islands where Sunda tigers live in the wild is Sumatra.
Female tigers require a sheltered space, such as a cave or a patch of dense vegetation, to give birth and raise cubs. Being such large animals, tigers need a habitat where they can catch lots of prey to eat.
Tigers require lots of land for them to have their own territories. It’s believed that tigers have lost up to 95% of their historical habitat. As their habitats get destroyed, it reduces the amount of space that tigers can live and hunt in, which then leads to food scarcity and starvation.
Would you like to teach your children about tigers? If the answer is yes, have a look at the selection of resources listed below.
This fact file is a brilliant way of introducing your children to tigers. They can learn lots of key facts from reading the fact file and afterwards, they can test what they’ve learnt using the accompanying quiz.
Would you like to make a classroom display or topic board on tigers? This pack of photos will make an excellent addition. Each photo clearly shows the features of a tiger, with a clear label at the top so your children will know what they’re looking at.
This PowerPoint is an engaging tool that you can use to teach your KS1 children about tigers. It’s full of beautiful images and illustrations that will help you keep your children focused on what they’re learning.
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