CATS! WILD TO MILD | CATS FROM A TO Z

Size: Females 65-170 kg (143-374 lbs), males 90-320 kg (198-704 lbs).

Habitat: 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.

Primary prey: Various species of deer, wild pigs, and buffalo.

Conservation status: Endangered.

Principal threats: Lack of prey; illegal hunting.

Distribution: 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 in India, parts of Southeast Asia, China, and Russia.

Notable features: Tigers are the largest of the living wild cats, but they vary greatly in size over their range, with the largest individuals known from Siberia and India and the smallest from the islands of Bali and Sumatra. Although they are usually solitary, tigers have been observed to hunt in small groups and share their kills with other, probably related, individuals. Of the big cats, tigers are the best known as man-eaters. In most cases, man-eaters are old or injured individuals who have difficulty hunting wild prey.