1. Tigers are the largest of the big cats.
2. Wild tigers are at the very top of the food chain.
3. There were originally eight subspecies of tiger, the
Javan, the Bali, the Caspian, the Indochinese, the
Sumatran, the Bengal, the Siberian, and the South
China tiger.
4. Unbelievably three of the eight subspecies are now
extinct. The Bali tiger met its demise in the 1940's,
the Caspian in the 1970's and the Javan in the 1980's.
(Yes you read that right--the 1980's!)
5. The latin names for the subspecies are:
pantheris tigris amoyensis The South China tiger
pantheris tigris altaicia The Amur (Siberian) tiger
pantheris tigris sumatrae The Sumatran tiger
pantheris tigris corbetti The Indochinese tiger
pantheris tigris tigris The Bengal tiger
pantheris tigris balica The Bali tiger
pantheris tigris virgata The Caspina tiger
pantheris tigris sondaica The Javan tiger
6. The South China tiger is believed to be the antecedent of
all tigers.
7. The tiger is the most endangered species of big cat. Of
the remaining tiger subspecies the South China tiger is
the most critically endangered with only around sixty
living in Chinese zoos and approximately twenty in the
wild (although none have been spotted for over twenty
years). This puts this subspecies at the very top of the
endangered species list.
8. Wild tigers do not live in Africa, they are spread out
across Asia and are thought to have originated from
Southern China.
9. A captive tiger can live up to twenty years, while a wild
tiger can expect to live ten to fifteen years.
10. Tigers are an umbrella species, which means to save the
wild tiger we must also commit to saving its habitat
and prey.
11. Due to the cold winters of Southern Russia and
Northern China the Siberian tiger is the largest of
the subspecies with an average length of 9ft 8' and
an average weight of 540 pounds, it has the thickest
fur and roams the largest territories.
12. The Bengal tiger is found in India and around the
Nepal/China border, it is the second largest of the
subspecies weighing in at around 480 pounds,
and is 9ft 5' long (average).
13. The Indochinese tiger is found across most of Southeast
Asia, it is 8ft 8' long and weighs in at 380 pounds
(average).
14. The South China tiger is found only in Southern China,
it is 8ft 1' long and weighs in at 336 pounds (average).
15. The Sumatran tiger is the smallest remaining
subspecies, with an average length of 7ft 8' and a
weight of 250 pounds, this is due to the fact that its
small territories are restricted to the Islands of
Sumatra.
16. The heaviest recorded tiger was a Siberian weighing in
at an amazing 1,025 pounds.
17. The Bengal tiger has the largest population with around
3000. Next is the Indochinese with approximately
1000-1500, then the Sumatran with 500-1000, then the
Siberian with 230-400 and last and unfortunately least
the South China tiger with around 60-80.
18. It is impossible to count how many tigers are left in the
wild but experts estimate there to be less than 6000.
19. The tigers saliva is antiseptic and comes in handy for
cleaning their wounds.
20. An adult wild tiger is a solitary animal and will establish
its own territory, which can cover over 100 square
miles.
21. A tiger marks its territory by spraying surrounding
trees and bushes with urine, dropping prominently
placed scat, and leaving deep scratch marks on tree
trunks.
22. In the scent of the tigers urine and scat is a code which
can only be deciphered by other wild tigers. The
message not only acts as a warning to trespasses, but
will also supply all the information needed for a would
be mate.
23. A males territory can overlap several females
territories.
24. A tiger will circumnavigate its territory every few days.
25. Tiger stripes are individually as unique as the human
finger print.
26. If you were to shave the fur from a tiger it would still
have stripes.
27. Tiger stripes act as perfect camouflage in tall weeds
and grasses.
28. The tigers most developed sense is its hearing.
29. A tiger can only usually expect a one in twenty success
rate when bringing down prey.
30. Tigers like to feed on pig, deer and buffalo, but will also
eat smaller prey such as rabbit and fish.
31. On average a tiger can eat up to 60 pounds of meat at
one time.
32. After a feed, a tiger will usually bury the remaining
animal carcass in an attempt to hide it from scavengers,
and then exhume it for its next meal.
33. A tiger can go two to three days without eating.
34. In a part of India called Sunderbans tigers have been
known to eat man.
35. To deter these attacks villagers wear masks on the
back of their heads as attacks are always from behind.
36. A tiger can spend up to eighteen hours sleeping.
37. Tigers can swim and like to cool down by sitting neck
deep in water holes.
38. Tigers reach maturity and are ready for mating at the
age of three.
39. A male tiger can copulate up to six times an hour.
40. A female tiger will usually give birth to 2-3 cubs in the
wild, unfortunately the fatality rate for cubs can be
quite high.
41. The gestation period can range from 102-106 days from
time of conception.
42. All tigers typically show a 1:1 sex ratio at birth.
43. Tiger cubs are blind at birth.
44. A tiger cub can gain 100 grams in weight per day.
45. A cub will begin eating solid food at around 12-13 weeks
and should be completely weaned around seventeen
weeks.
46. Tiger cubs play-fight with their siblings, which enables
them to gain strength and speed.
47. It is believed that the two white dots on the back of a
tiger's ears are designed to act as a visual beacon to
enable the cubs to follow their parent.
48. A tiger cub will make its first kill around 18 months of
age.
49. Tiger cubs can stay with their mother for up to 2-3
years.
50. Male tigers have been known to kill and sometimes eat
cubs of other males before taking the tigress as its own
mate.
51. All tigers have a similar marking on their forehead,
which resembles the Chinese symbol Wang, meaning
King.
52. Tigers do not purr.
53. Usually before mating, but also as a sign of affection,
tigers make a kind of chuffing sound by expelling air
softly through the nostrils.
54. Unlike the domestic cat the tigers pupils are round.
55. The tiger's foot print is known as the pug mark, and its
measurement is sometimes the only method of
recording wild tigers.
56. Like the domestic cat the tigers claws are retractable.
57. There are five toes on a tigers forefeet and four on its
hind feet.
58. A tiger's night vision is six times greater than a
human's.
59. A tiger's canine teeth can grow up to three inches long
and would be capable of crunching through the
vertebrae of any creature on this earth.
60. Adult tigers have thirty teeth.
61. On average a tigers tail is around four feet long or half
the length of its body.
62. The tail gives the tiger extra balance when running and
is also used to communicate to other tigers.
63. The tendons in a tiger's leg are so strong that an animal
has been known to remain standing after it has been
shot dead.
64. The Sumatran tiger has the most pronounced ruff
around its neck.
65. The South China tiger has the fewest stripes.
66. The fore limbs of a tiger are more powerful than the
hind limbs for grabbing large prey.
67. In Chinese, tiger means Wu Lao Hu. In Hindi it
means Bagh, Sher. In Indonesian it means Harimau,
Macan. In Korean it means Ho Lang-ee. In Vietnamese
it means Cop. In Thai and Lao it means Seua.
In Nepalese it means Bagh. In Burmese it means Kyar.
And in Malay it means Harimau.
68. Tigers move both legs on one side of the body almost
simultaneously when they walk.
69. The South China tiger has a slightly different shaped
skull to the other subspecies, its eye sockets are deeper
and it has a slight hump on the back of its neck.
70. Most tigers are orange with black stripes and a white
underbelly and jowl.
71. A white tiger is not an albino, all white tigers are
believed to have descended from a single white Bengal
male called Mohan.
72. It is said that the South China tiger is impossible to
train, many Chinese circuses gave up after trying to
implement them into their acts.
73. The tiger is revered in Chinese mythology and is said to
have magical powers.
74. The tiger is the third animal in the Chinese zodiac.
75. Yin and Yang is sometimes represented by a Yin tigress
and a Yang dragon.
76. It is believed that when a tiger dies its spirit enters the
ground and becomes amber.
77. It is also believed in Chinese mythology that the tiger
can take human form.
78. The demise of the tiger is due to loss of habitat and the
use of tiger parts in traditional Chinese medicines.
79. Every single part of the tiger is used in traditional
Chinese medicine.
80. Tiger derivatives have been used in traditional Chinese
medicines for over 1000 years.
81. There is not a shred of scientific evidence to back up
claims that any of these remedies work.
82. Some traditional Chinese remedies are dangerous.
83. Tiger parts are also used as trophies, trinkets and aids
to ward off evil spirits.
84. In Asia illegal tiger farms operate to supply tigers for
the traditional Chinese medicine market.
85. In 1959 The Siberian tiger was declared an endangered
species and awarded protection.
86. In 1959 The South China tiger was declared a pest and
a bounty was placed on its head.
87. In 1959 there were approximately 4000 South China
tigers in the wild.
88. Between 1960 and 1984 3000 South China tiger pelts
were officially recorded.
89. Many so called tiger activists have given up on the
South China tiger.
90. Now the Chinese government is completely dedicated
to saving the South China tiger.
91. As the trade for tiger parts has now been forced
underground the incentives for poachers have greatly
increased, one tiger carcass can mean as much as ten
years pay.
92. The main users of illegal animal derivatives are, China,
Taiwan, Korea, and Japan.
93. Tiger powders and potions can be bought all over the
USA, Europe and the UK.
94. There are believed to be 120 outlets selling tiger
derivatives in Australia alone.
95. Tiger populations are being cut off as their territories
shrink and the corridors which join them together are
being destroyed.
96. It is estimated that Bengal tigers are still being killed by
poachers and villagers at the rate of one per day.
97. In the 1980's public tiger slaughters were common in
Taiwan.
98. A single brewery in Taiwan imported 2,000kg of tiger
bone annually during the 1980's, the equivalent of
100-200 tiger carcasses, to produce 100,000 bottles of
tiger wine.
99. There are now more tigers in captivity than there are in
the wild.
100. We could lose the wild tiger in as little as five years
time.
101. The tiger has only one predator...MAN!
102. A group of tigers is called a Streak.
103. There were believed to be 100,000 wild tigers at the
beginning of the last century.
104. There are twice as many captive tigers in the USA
than there are anywhere in the wild.
105. The tiger's stripes form what is called disruptive
camouflage, which is an illusion that appears to change
their shape and blend them into their surroundings.
106. A tiger is Diurnal, which means its peak times of activity
are dawn and dusk.
107. A tiger eats around six kilos of meat per day, but can
go as long as a week without a meal.
108. Approximately fifty humans are killed by tigers each
year.
109. The Tiger Chase is the first novel written about the
South China tiger.
110. Tigers will occasionally eat vegetation for dietary fiber, the
fruit of the Slow Match Tree being favored.
