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Life Span:
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They live about 15 years in the wild and about 25 in captivity.
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Size:
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The overall size of the tiger depends very much on the subspecies and location, with the largest
animals living in the north and the smaller in the south. The tiger is the largest of all cat
species and some male Siberian tigers can reach up to 800 pounds. However, the smallest subspecies,
the male Sumatran tiger may weigh only 200 pounds.
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Color:
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Tigers range from a pale yellow to a reddish orange background color (depending on habitat),
overlain by vertical stripes.
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Physical Description:
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The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a mammal of the Felidae family, the largest of four "big cats" in the
Panthera genus. Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is a driven carnivore and an
excellent predator. Reaching up to 10 feet or more in total length and weighing up to 800 pounds,
tigers are comparable in size to the biggest extinct cats. Aside from their great bulk and power,
their most recognizable feature is the pattern of dark vertical stripes that overlays near-white to
reddish-orange fur, with lighter underparts.
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Distribution:
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Over the past 100 years, the tiger's range has decreased greatly. Formerly distributed across Asia
from Turkey to China, Korea, and the Russian far east, it is now restricted to a few scattered
populations. The five subspecies of tigers include the Bengal, which lives primarily in India; the
Indo-Chinese, which lives in Southeast Asia; the Sumatran, which lives in Malaysia; the Siberian,
which lives in Russia, China and North Korea; and the most endangered, the Chinese tiger, of which
only 30 to 50 exist in China's wild. Only about 450 Siberian tigers, 500 Sumatran tigers, 1,500
Indo-Chinese tigers and 5,000 Bengal tigers exist in the wild.
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Habitat:
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Tigers can survive in a wide range of environments, from snowy temperate to warm, tropical forests
and from dry, open woodlands to mangrove swamps. Their basic requirements are water, sufficient
large prey, and some cover to conceal themselves.
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Primary prey:
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In the wild Bengal Tigers are pure carnivores and hunt medium-sized animals, such as rabbits, badgers,
water buffalos, deer, wild boars, goats and sometimes they hunt domestic cattle. A Bengal Tiger will
drag the kill to a safe place to eat. They are able to eat up to 40 pounds at a time and then go without
eating for days. Some Tigers become man-eaters, but it happens to be very rare. In the zoo Bengal Tigers
are fed chicken, horsemeat and kangaroo meat five days a week and fast on bones twice a week.
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Conservation Status:
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The IUCN currently lists the leopard as Threatened.
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Principal threats:
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Poaching for fur and destruction of habitat.
have greatly reduced tiger populations in the wild. A century ago, it is estimated there were over 100,000 tigers in the world but the population has dwindled to between 7,000 and 5,000 tigers.[48] Some estimates suggest the population is even lower, with some at less than 2,500 mature breeding individuals
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