A Tribute to A Beautiful Animal
There are five subspecies of tiger alive in the world
today. They are the Siberian, South China, Indochinese, Bengal, and Sumatran. Tigers have been
forced out of their homes and hunted almost to extinction. There are unlike wolves, tigers
usually live a pretty solitary life. They do not travel in packs, and come together only during
mating season. They each have their own territory, but a male's territory can overlap with
those of several females. Tiger cubs live with their mothers for 2 to 3 years, until they find
a territory of their own. These darlings weigh about 2 or 3 pounds at birth, and stay on their
mother's milk for about 8 weeks. They then live on food their mother kills for them until they
are about 1 1/2 years old. Only around 7,000 wild tigers left anywhere in the world. White
tigers are not a subspecies of their own, nor are they albinos. They are just a rare coloration
of a Bengal or a Bengal-Siberian cross. White tigers have ice blue eyes, unlike other tigers,
who have warm golden brown eyes. All tigers have the characteristic round pupils, which is why
they are classified as Panthera instead of Felis.
Tigers are the only felidae with stripes. Their coats can vary from a dark orange color to more
of a reddish ochre. Occasionally and more so, rarely, there will be a white tiger with a
creamy white coat. Dark brown or black stripes run vertically across the tigers body. The
belly, neck, and insides of their limbs are a creamy white. Their eyes are yellow except for
that rare white tiger, which has blue eyes.
Just a little bit more information on tigers 