Tiger facts for kids
Tigers are the largest members of the cat family. They are solitary animals that live in tropical forests, primarily hunting other animals for food. Tigers have a wide range of habitats and can be found in forested areas, grasslands, swamps, and wetlands.
They typically hunt deer and wild pigs but will also attack domestic livestock such as cows and buffaloes when they become too numerous or threaten their habitat.
Despite being classified as endangered tigers still exist in many countries including India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, Bhutan and Russia.
What are the different types of tigers?
Siberian Tigers
Siberian Tigers live primarily in eastern Russia’s birch forests, though some exist in China and North Korea.
They have the advantage of huge forests to roam around in.
Bengal Tigers
Bengal tigers are the largest of all Indian big cats and can reach up to 3.3 meters in length, weighing 300-700 kilograms. They have a lifespan that ranges from 15 to 20 years and lives mostly in India’s tropical rainforests with other wildlife like leopards, elephants, deer and monkeys. Bengal tigers may be spotted along Sri Lanka’s wild southern coastlines while basking on seashores or fishing for crabs.
Black Tigers
A black tiger is a rare variant of the Bengal Tiger. It has been reported in India but it’s not well known that there are other black tigers around the world as well. The most famous one was born in 2007, which led to her being named Black Panther by zoo staff and visitors alike.
White Tigers
The white tiger or bleached tiger is also a variation of the Bengal tiger, Siberian tiger and hybrids between the two. It can be found in some places in India.
What Do Tigers Eat?
Tigers are carnivores and their diet consists mostly of large prey like deer, wild boars and elephant calves.
Baby Tiger Facts
Baby tigers are called cubs. They are born blind and depend on their mother for protection. Tigers have a gestation period of about 100 days, which means that they will be delivered in the late summer or early fall.
Females usually produce up to six cubs in one litter. After 15 months old, the eldest tiger will leave the mother to find its own territory and mate.
How Far Can You Hear A Lion’s Roar?
A tiger’s roar is a low-pitched, deep sound. It can be heard at 3 to 4 kilometres away.
Tigers typically use their roar to announce themselves when they’re hunting for food or scaring away rivals.
A tiger’s roar is a deep, resonating sound produced by the vibration of air passing through its vocal cords. This noise can be heard from some distance and may serve as an indication of where tigers are located in forest areas.
Furthermore, tigers roar to communicate with other members of their species. The range for tiger’s home depends on the abundance of prey in its territory and sex.
How Large is a Tiger’s Range
Tigers are the most powerful of all land predators. They have a wide range and those found in Manchuria, China, range from 500 to 4,000 kilometres.
Male tigers mark trees by spraying urine or anal gland secretions. and they mark their territory with feces. They also use claw marks to draw boundaries for themselves and others.
A young male tiger acquires territory either by seeking out an area devoid of other males or fighting for it with another male (often to the death).
How Fast Can a Tiger Run?
A tiger can run up to 22 miles an hour. They are also capable of swimming at speeds of 6 mph and jumping up to 18 ft in the air.
Why Do Tigers Have Stripes?
Tigers have stripes because they are a unique feature to this species.
Tigers have stripes to help them camouflage. Predators can’t see the tiger’s stripes, so they think it is a tree or shrub and won’t attack.
Tigers have stripes because they use them to blend in with the trees. They use their brown and orange colouration as camouflage against hunters, who would instead see a tiger’s striped form if it was hunting alone.
Tigers have their stripes for camouflage. Without them, they would be easy to spot and hunt. Sadly, hunting and habitat loss has put the tiger population at risk of extinction today!
Tiger size
Tigers are the largest living cats on Earth and they can grow up to 3 meters in length and weigh as much as 670 pounds.
How long do tigers live?
In general, tigers live in the wild for 10-15 years. In captivity, they can live up to 25 years old.
Living and hunting
Most tigers spend time living and hunting alone. Although tigers in the wild are typically solitary animals, they have been known to form coalitions with other males for short periods of time.
Most tigers like to live alone and/or with their spouse, but do not hold established territories.
Tigers do not have territories that they exert full dominance of. Giant cats walk for an hour between hunting zones in their territory, staying near water sources to hunt for fish, deer, crocodiles, turtles, frogs, lizards and more.
Females will only hunt when raising their young and both parents provide protection from predators while they are hunting.
Are tigers still endangered?
Tigers are endangered because of illegal wildlife trade, human-wildlife conflict, habitat loss/fragmentation, and poaching.
There are still less than 3,000 tigers left in the wild today. However, recent conservation work has halted the decline of global tiger numbers by protecting their habitats and focusing on captive breeding which has helped to boost population levels over recent years.
How Many Tigers Are Left In The World
Despite the fact that there are only 3,900 tigers left in the wild, they’re not going extinct anytime soon. They’ve reached a low at which it’s difficult to see their numbers increase because of human interaction and habitat loss. The number has been slowly decreasing since 1900 when over 100,000 tigers were roaming free in India alone.
There are currently 6 surviving tiger subspecies in the world, all of which are endangered. The Siberian tiger is thought to be one of the most genetically diverse tigers in existence with an estimated 2,000-3,500 individuals remaining. There is also a growing population of captive-bred tigers for conservation purposes and these animals make up about 5% of the global population.
The Sumatran tiger is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra; their numbers have dwindled dramatically due to habitat loss and poaching. The South China tiger is found in southern China, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Malaysia; the largest population of these tigers is estimated to be between 1-4 thousand individuals.
The Indochinese tiger occupies a small range of forested areas in Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam; their numbers are unknown but they are thought to be declining due to habitat loss. The Malayan tiger has an extensive range across southern Asia including India; their numbers have declined significantly due to habitat loss.
The Siberian tiger, found in Eastern Russia, China and North Korea, are thought to be declining due to habitat loss and poaching for body parts. The Bengal tiger’s numbers have declined significantly due to poaching for body parts.
Chinese New Year – Tiger – 2022
The Chinese new year is also known as the Lunar calendar, and it has 12 different animals representing each lunar year. The 2022 Year of the Tiger is part of this cycle.
Tiger Cams
https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/tiger-cam/
https://sdzsafaripark.org/cams/tiger-cam
How to Draw Videos
How To Draw A Realistic Tiger Head
How To Draw A Tiger
How to Draw a Tiger Cub
If you are looking for something more cartoonish try this one:
Tiger crafts
For younger children
https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/tiger-crafts
Tiger dot-to-dot and colouring
https://www.connectthedots101.com/Animals/Tiger-connect-the-dots – 24 pictures
Tiger Quizzes
For kids
https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/tiger-quiz
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/quizzes/bp-are-you-a-tiger-expert-quiz
For older youngsters
https://www.wwf.org.uk/node/40636
Videos about Tigers
Tigers’ Teeth Are LONGER THAN HUMAN FINGERS! | Wild Bites | BBC Earth Kids
Excellent video may suit 8 -12 year olds
Amazing Animals from National Geographic – Kids
This is a very short, slightly amusing video
5 facts about Tigers
This is an excellent video for perhaps 6 – 9-year-olds. There are more than 5 facts as related facts are also talked about in this video.
Tigers for Kids: Learn All About Tigers – FreeSchool
Tigers for Kids
This video would probably only suit children under about 7.
How The Tiger Got Its Stripes
A folk story from Vietnam about how the Tiger got its stripes
Other web pages you might like to visit to find out more about tigers
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/siberian-tiger – great videos on this page about Siberian tigers. You do have to sign up to view them.
Educational Resources about Tigers
https://www.wwf.org.uk/get-involved/schools/tiger-tales
https://www.worldwildlife.org/teaching-resources/toolkits/tiger-toolkit
Hey,
This beautiful site about tigers (really beautiful animals!) is for everyone and especially for the children. I also like these animals and I think they are more beautiful than the king of the jungle, the lion. I think this is because of the beautiful color patterns that a tiger has. Even the pitch-black tiger appeals to the imagination.
The children are also fascinated by it but I think they will see the tiger as a threat if they have watched the beautiful movie “Jungle Book” in which the tiger “Shere Khan” is chasing Mowgli…
All in all: a very nice initiative to teach the children about the different types of tigers.
Well done,
With best regards,
Hi Peter,
Thank you for your lovely comments. I do really like tigers and I loved the movie “Jungle Book”.
Tigers are such Beautiful Creatures and we do need to protect them but obviously, we also need to protect people who are endangered by tigers. And maybe it’s no bad thing that children learn that wild creatures such as tigers have to be treated with care and caution.
All the best
Julia