Interesting Facts About Tigers:

If tigers are your favourite of the big cats, then why not check out these top thirty interesting facts on tigers and learn something new!

1. The Latin name for the tiger is ‘Panthera tigris‘.
2. They can live up to 26 years in captivity and in the wild.
3. Tigers prefer to inhabit forests, grasslands and mangrove swamps.
4. There are six distinctive tigers: Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, Siberian, South China and Sumatran.
5. White tigers are caused by recessive genes and inbreeding.
6. There are as few as 30 Golden Tigers in captivity.
7. There are three extinct breeds: Bali, Caspian and Javan.
8. They can measure up to 11ft, including tail.
9. They can weigh up to 670lbs.
10. The stripes that a tiger has are as unique as human fingerprints.
11. Tigers are generally solitary creatures, but are seen as highly social able.
12. They have a great fondness for water and are very strong swimmers.
13. Tigers feast on many animals, depending on their territory. These include: antelope, boar, buffalo, camel, fish and horse.
14. Interestingly, a tiger can go two weeks without feeding.
15. They can gorge up to 75lbs of flesh in one sitting.
16. A tiger’s method of killing prey is to stalk it, before ambushing and overpowering it, before biting.
17. Human behaviour can make the tiger feel threatened and attack humans. These are known as ‘man eaters’.
18. They can make horizontal leaps of up to 33ft.
19. Usually, in a litter of cubs, there are up to three, but as many as six can be born.
20. After fourteen days, the cubs will open their eyes.
21. A cub can take up to two-and-a-half years to separate from its mother.
22. Tigers are heavily endangered.
23. They are hunted for fur, meat, medicine and sport.
24. Save China’s Tigers are a conservation group, which is extremely successful at breeding and reintroducing tigers to the wild.
25. The Bengal tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh and India.
26. They are one of the Chinese Zodiac animals, depicting wood.
27. In Asian folklore, the weretiger is seen as a horrific and terrifying creature, replacing the werewolf.
28. Shere Khan was a deadly tiger in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (1894).
29. The breakfast cereal Frosties is sponsored by Tony the Tiger, who claims, “They’re grrrreat!”
30. Siegfried and Roy, the magical entertainers, closed their show after a confused seven year old tiger bit Roy’s neck and attempted to treat him like a cub.