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Originally there were nine subspecies of tigers. Sadly, however, over the last 80 years three have become completely extinct and the remaining six are now endangered or critically endangered. As it’s National Tiger Day we rounded up 12 fun facts about these majestic big cats to celebrate the day.
1. There are 2 terms for a group of tigers, depending on the group makeup. A female tiger and her cubs is called a streak of tigers, and a group of adult tigers, who sometimes come together to hunt, is called an ambush.
2. Adult tigers can weigh up to 363kg and measure up to 3.3 metres.
3. Tigers can run for short bursts of between 50-65km/h.
4. Tigers have been around for a long time! The oldest known tiger fossils were found in China and believed to be around 2 million years old.
5. No two tigers have the same stripe pattern. Like human fingerprints, each tiger’s stripes are unique to it.
6. The saliva of a tiger has antiseptic properties. This helps them prevent infections when licking a wound and can also aid the healing process.
7. A tiger will mate around 50 times in a day. Each time only lasts for around 15 seconds or less though.
8. Tigers sleep for between 16-20 hours a day. Not because of laziness but to allow them to conserve the energy which they need to hunt, or to recover from the demand of hunting.
9. Tigers generally only eat once a week in the wild, but will eat anything from 40-50kgs of meat in one sitting.
10. A tiger’s roar can reach a volume of 114 decibels (which is about the same as a chainsaw). In the wild their roar can be heard from over 2 miles away.
11. A tiger’s stripes are not only on its fur, but also on its skin. If a tiger were shaved its striped pattern would still be visible.
12. Unlike many other cat species, tigers actually enjoy swimming, and are good at it. They have been known to cross rivers up to 7km wide and, in a single day, can swim distances of up to 29km.
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