Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about tigers. Like the lions we’ve talked about previously, tigers are considered “big cats” meaning they aren’t able to purr and they roar. Also like lions, there is only one accepted living species of tiger. Maybe this sounds strange.

If you’re anything like me and grew up playing Zoo Tycoon then you know there are Bengal and Siberian tigers and surely they aren’t the same species - I mean they look completely different in the game! Technically, they are the same species. Technically, all tigers are the same species, however, like the lions, there are subspecies of tigers, and there are actually more tiger subspecies than lion subspecies - well depending on who you ask. Since we tend to stay away from going into subspecies on this channel, we’re giving you this on screen list of tiger subspecies. Today’s video will focus on the entire tiger group as a whole, but if we come across any glaring differences between subspecies that seem worth mentioning, we’ll make note of them.

Averaging 400 pounds (181 kilograms) in weight and ten feet (3 meters) in length - including their tails - tigers are the largest living cats on our planet. Really, these guys should be named the “king of the jungle”, because they actually live there, though they live in plenty of other places, too. Tigers live in a variety of habitats including wet tropical forests, mangrove swamps, dry thorny woodlands, and even mountainous areas with snow! It might seem like a tiger’s orange and black stripes would stand out against the green leaves of these forested habitats, but a tiger’s stripes are actually perfectly designed to help their bodies disappear among the vegetation dappled with irregular rays of sunlight. This works in a similar way to the markings found on baby tapirs, which we’ve talked about in a previous episode.

Currently, tigers are living in just a small percentage of their former home range; they can be found in fragmented populations throughout parts of Asia including China, Russia, India, Korea, and the Himalayas. Here they enjoy meals of wild boar, deer, water buffalo, rats, frogs, fish, gaur, and sometimes even bears! Tigers primarily hunt at night, typically rely on sight and sound for hunting, as opposed to smell, and, uncharacteristically of many cats, they don’t mind taking a swim if necessary to find a good meal, or even just to cool off.

Tigers are primarily solitary creatures, though mothers may be seen with their offspring. Female tigers go through reproductive cycles approximately every six weeks, and for a period of less than a week she will be receptive to the advances of a male. A male tiger will know a female is ready for breeding because of chemical cues she’ll give off in her urine, which she uses to mark her territory. After mating, the male and female will part ways, leaving her to raise the cubs on her own. A female tiger may have anywhere from one to seven cubs in a litter, though three is the average. The young tigers may remain with their mothers until they are three years old, at which point they will venture off on their own, though it’ll still be a year or two before they begin breeding.

As apex predators, tigers only really face humans as a constant source of danger. Pressures from habitat loss and poaching have dwindled tiger populations, though, in some areas, thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers are increasing. In the wild, tigers may live to be two decades old.

For more facts on tigers, check out the links in the description. Thank you to Caleb for today’s request. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.