Tiger

credit: tiger photos by tiger grrl

Facts:

The tiger is the largest cat in the world. There are five subspecies of Tigers surviving today in the wild: the Bengal, Sumatran, South Chinese, Indochinese, and Siberian. There are thought to be fewer than twenty South China tigers left in the wild. Three subspecies of tiger have become extinct: the Caspian, Bali, and Javan.

Habitat:

Tigers can live in a wide variety of habitats such as snowy mountains, forests, or rain forests as long as there is sufficient cover, food, and water.

Food:

The Tiger's menu includes large and small game animals such as deer, pigs, monkeys, porcupines, and other animals.

Why Endangered:

The tiger has lost massive amounts of its habitat and the tigers prey is becoming less abundant. The tiger has also been poached for its beautiful skin and its body parts are ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine.

What We Can Do:

Find alternatives to traditional Chinese medicine that uses tiger parts (such as acupuncture) and contribute to conservation programs such as the World Wildlife Fund or The 5 Tigers.

Description:

The tiger has razor sharp claws and teeth used to hunt its prey. Tigers are great swimmers (the second most water loving cat) and have swam from one island to another. Most tigers have a beautiful orange coat with black stripes. Tigers are the only cats with true stripes Some tigers have white coats with black stripes but white tigers are just a color variation of the orange ones not a separate species and they aren't albinos because of their blue eyes. There was also a black tiger reported in the Bay of Bengal. The tiger can weigh about 700 pounds.

Links To Other Sites:

Here is a great site on tigers that has many tiger pictures.

Click here to play the tiger puzzle!!!