A Royal Bengal Tiger in India. Photo © Vivek Menon

Tiger Panthera tigris

The Tiger is the largest of the four 'Big Cats'. (The other three are the lion, the leopard and the jaguar.) An adult tiger can be up to 4 m (13 ft) long, tail included, and weigh up to 300 kg. The Tiger is a highly adaptable animal and can consequently be found in a wide range of different habitats, such as the Siberian taiga, open grasslands and mangrove swamps.

Because tigers are territorial and largely solitary animals, they need very large areas of suitable habitat in order to satisfy their needs. However, because tigers are endemic to some of the most densely populated places in the world, they often come into conflict with humans. Due to habitat destruction and fragmentation, as well as hunting, three of the nine sub-species of tiger that have existed in modern times have gone extinct. The remaining six sub-species are classified as as Endangered by IUCN. (See IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for more information on the classification of the Tiger.)

Bengal Tiger, Bandhavgarh, India. Photo by Andrewself, published under the Creative Commons licence.

Tigers are formally protected, but continue to be threatened by poaching and habitat destruction. Problems related to inbreeding is also a threat to the Tiger, due to the small numbers remaining (less than 2,500 breeding adults, according to IUCN).

Help Protect the Tiger and Other Wildlife in India

Tigers can be found living in the World Land Trust project areas in India. Please help protect Tiger habitat by making a donation to the World Land Trust.

More Information on Tigers

• Find more information on the Tiger on ARKive: Images of life on Earth