As you know, the tiger has black stripes to camouflage himself in the forest and also an orange color.  There is also a speices that is very rare which has  a coat of white instead of orange.   Tiger stripes are like human fingerprints; no tiger has the same width and length in his stripes as  another tiger. This way scientist can identify a seprate tiger from a whole bunch of them.  No one knows exactly why tigers  are striped, but scientists think that the stripes act as a tool, and help him hide from his prey.  The Sumatran tiger has the most stripes of all the tiger subspeices, and the siberian has the fewest stripes.  The Sumatran also has approximately 1,700 to 2,000 hairs per square centimeters while the winter coat of the Siberian tiger has as many as 3,000 to 3,300 hairs per centimeter. Tigers that live in cold climates (Siberian tigers) have thicker fur than tigers that live in hot places.  The siberian tiger has longer hair in the winter (approximately 40 to 60 mm on the back and 70 to 105 mm on the stomach).  Tiger hair length varies geography.  In the subspecies th hair are short (approximately 7 to 20 mm on the back and 15 to 35 mm on the stomach).  The density of fur is dependent on the seasonal nd geographical factors.
     Tigers eyes have round pupils and yellow iries (except for the blue eyes of white  tigers).  Due to a retinal adaptation that reflects light back to the retina, the night vision of tigers is six times better than  that of humans.  They can also see in color .
     A tiger's forefeet have five toes and the hind feet have four toes.  All toes have claws.  Like domestic cats , tiger claws are retractable. The claws are 80 to 100 mm in length. Tiger scratch on trees serve as territorial marker.
      Often the tigers head carries the Chinese mark of wang or king on its head.
    A tiger's tail is three to four feet long, about half as long as its body.  Tigers use their tails for balance when they run through fast turns.  They also use their tail to cummunicate with other tigers.   The territory of a tiger usually ranges in sive from 10 to 30 square miles (26-78 sq. km), although the territory of a siberian tiger may be as large as 120 square miles (310 sq. km). The size of a tiger's territory depends on the amount of prey available .
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