Ranger Rick Zoobooks: Tigers
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When we think of tigers, we think of danger. Tigers have strong jaws, big teeth, and long, sharp claws. But tigers aren’t just dangerous—they’re beautiful, too. We admire their beautiful striped coats and the way they move so gracefully.
This big cat hunts alone. It takes a lot of food to fill up a tiger, and having to always share could leave a tiger hungry. Fortunately, tigers are very good at taking down large prey by themselves. And those big meals are important, because tigers sometimes have to go days—even weeks—without eating at all.
Tigers live in steamy jungles, or in the snows of Siberia. And they may live about 15 years. Females usually live longer than males, because the males live more dangerously. They often fight with other males. Sometimes one of them is killed this way, or wounded so badly that it cannot hunt.
Male tigers are much bigger than females. An adult male usually weighs about 420 pounds, and from head to rear, it is roughly 7 feet long. Females are about a foot shorter, and they weigh about 100 pounds less. The biggest wild tiger ever measured was a male Bengal tiger. It was over 11 feet long, tail included, and weighed 857 pounds.