Tigers have rusty-reddish to brown-rusty coats, and stripes that vary from brown to pure black. Most tigers have in excess of 100 stripes. The pattern of stripes is unique to each animal. Thus the stripes can be used to identify individual tigers. Like most cats, tigers have some degree of colour vision.
The size of a tiger’s home range depends on availability of food, and in the case of males, access to females. A female may have a range of 20 square kilometres while for males, ranges may cover 60–100 square kilometres. Because of their nature, arguments between tigers can be violent and may occasionally end in death. The tiger is also a strong swimmer; tigers are often found bathing in lakes and rivers.
Tiger cubs become independent around 18 months of age, but it is not until they are around 2–2½ years old that they leave their mother. Over the course of her life, a female will give birth to an approximately equal number of male and female cubs.
Tigers mostly feed on large and medium sized animals such as deer. They will eat smaller animals such as monkeys and even fish. They may also kill such dangerous animals as leopards and crocodiles. Adult elephants are dangerous for tigers, but conflicts have taken place, nonetheless, and in some encounters young elephants are occasionally killed. Tigers sometimes kill domestic animals such as dogs, cows and horses, and old and injured tigers occasionally attack humans. These ‘man eaters’ are then usually shot or poisoned. Bengal has had the highest incidence of man eaters.
Tigers' extremely strong jaws and razor sharp teeth make them excellent hunters. They hunt alone, using their body size and strength to knock large animals off balance. They then bite their throats and use strength to bring them to the ground. They remain locked onto the neck until their victim dies. Water buffalos weighing over a ton have been killed by tigers weighing about a sixth as much. The power behind a blow from a tiger's paws combined with the effect of the claws being raked across the flesh is quite sufficient to kill an adult human.
Tigers are also one of the highest-jumping animals. They have been reported to carry domestic animals weighing 50 kilograms while easily jumping over fences 2 meters high.
Humans are the most significant threat to tigers, often hunting them for their fur. A century ago, there were over 100,000 tigers in the world but the population has decreased to 8,000. Some estimates suggest the population is even lower at less than 2,500 mature breeding individuals.
Such numerical analyses however ignore the fact that of the nine different varieties of tiger, three are already extinct.
The Bengal tiger is found in parts of India, Bangladesh, and other surrounding countries. The Indian government's estimated population figure for these tigers is between 3,100 and 4,500. In 1972, India launched Project Tiger, to protect the decreasing numbers of tigers.
Estimates of the population of the Indochinese tiger vary between 1,200 to 1,800. Recent counts of the Malayan tiger showed there are 600–800 left in the wild. This makes it the third largest population in the world. The Sumatran tiger population is estimated at between 400 and 500. Nearly 20% of its total population were shot and killed between 1998 and 2000. The Amur tiger is confined to eastern Siberia, where it is now protected. There are around 450–500 Amur tigers.
The last known wild South China tiger was shot and killed in 1994. None have been seen in the wild for 20 years. There are 59 captive South China tigers, all within China. The last Balinese tiger was killed on 27 September 1937. The last Javan tiger was seen in 1979. None have been seen since. The last reliable report of a Caspian tiger was in 1968, though one may have been shot dead in south east Turkey in 1970.
In a poll organised by Animal Planet in 2004, more than 50,000 viewers from 73 countries voted to decide their favourite animal. The tiger received 10,904 votes winning the title of the World's Favourite Animal, beating man's best friend, dog, by 17 votes.