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Tigers are classified as EN, or Endangered. The IUCN Red List is the biggest international database for conservation.
TIGERS ARE AT RISK
TIGERS ARE AT RISK
Tigers are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This status means that the tiger species is at a serious risk of extinction. There are only approximately 3,900 tigers left in the wild.
ABOUT TIGERS
ABOUT TIGERS
Tigers are the largest cat species in the world. With orange coats, prominent black stripes, and white underbellies, they are quite striking to behold. They are carnivores, weigh between 200 to 600 pounds as adults, and measure about 6 to 10 feet long. Females are usually smaller than males. Unlike lions, tigers hunt and live alone. A tiger's stripes are like our fingerprints - no two patterns are the same. They also enjoy swimming, and are quite good at it!
Tigers live in forests (temperate, tropical, or evergreen), shrublands, mangrove swamps, savannas, and grasslands. There are 13 tiger range countries, which tigers are native to.
Amur tigers live in east Siberia and northeast China. Bengal tigers live in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal. The Sumatran tiger lives on the Indonesian islands. The Indochinese tiger lives in Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. The Malayan tiger lives in Malaysia and Thailand.
This map shows the range that tigers inhabit across Asia. Their current range is only 7% of what it used to be, and has high population fragmentation.
An adult Indian Bengal tiger in the wild. The Bengal tiger is endangered, but other subspecies have even fewer individuals.
There are nine subspecies of tiger.
Three subspecies are fully extinct:
Javan tiger, Panthera tigris sondaica
Bali tiger, Panthera tigris balica
Caspian tiger, Panthera tigris virgata
One subspecies is alive, but is extinct in the wild:
South China tiger, Panther tigris amoyensis
Five subspecies are alive, and are still found in the wild:
Amur or Siberian tiger, Panthera tigris altaica
Bengal tiger, Panthera tigris tigris
Sumatran tiger, Panthera tigris sumatrae
Indochinese tiger, Panthera tigris corbetti
Malayan tiger, Panthera tigris jacksoni
TIGERS NEED OUR HELP
TIGERS NEED OUR HELP
Tigers play an important part in keeping many different ecosystems thriving and healthy. These ecosystems provide food and water to humans, and include at least nine large Asian watersheds. Having tigers around can also create both tourism (via sightseeing) and job opportunities (via conservation work). Protecting tigers and the land they live on will also protect other endangered species that also call those lands their home.
A young Amur tiger cub, born in a zoo. There are more tigers in captivity than in the wild.
REFERENCES
Lynam, A., Miquelle, D., Wibisono, H., Kawanishi, K., Pattanavibool, A., Htun, S., Tempa, T., Karki, J., Jhala, Y., & Karanth, U. (2015). Panthera tigris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15955/50659951
Mongabay.com. (2018, October 25). Genome-wide study confirms there are six tiger subspecies. MongaBay. https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/genome-wide-study-confirms-there-are-six-tiger-subspecies/
Smithsonian. (2019). Tiger. Smithsonian's National Zoo. https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/tiger
World Wildlife Fund. (n.d.). Tiger. WWF. https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger
IMAGES
Allofs, T. (n.d.). Untitled image of tiger [Online image]. WWF. https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger
Augustin, C. (n.d.). Amur tiger cub [Online image]. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/video-shows-rare-tiger-cubs-explore-outdoor-enclosure-first-time-1613154
Brutel, D. (n.d.). Wild tiger in India [Online image]. Scientific American. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/its-global-tiger-day-mdash-how-is-the-effort-to-save-them-going/
IUCN. (2014). The Red List Assessment [Online image]. IUCN. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15955/50659951
Map data provided by IUCN. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15955/50659951
Cite this page:
Morgan, M. I. C. (2022, July 17). Home. Tigers. https://sites.google.com/unity.edu/tigers/home
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