Powerful and stealthy, the tiger is the largest and heaviest of the cat family and much feared by other animals and humans alike. The Bengal tiger has the classic orange and black tiger’s coat. It patrols its own territory and usually hunts alone, stalking its prey or killing it by ambush. Immensely strong, it can bring down animals much larger than itself. Once common throughout Asia, the Bengal tiger is now restricted to small areas of India and the surrounding countries.

Silent Killer
A tiger relies on stealth to catch its prey. It has excellent eyesight and hearing, which help it track animals in the dark. Tigers hunt large animals such as deer and wild pigs, which will provide food for a few days. They slink up on their prey unseen, only charging when they are within about 20m (65ft). Tigers kill their prey by biting the back of its neck or throat, then dragging it away into thick cover to feed. When they have eaten enough, they conceal the carcass with leaves so they can return to it later on. Male tigers can eat up to 40kg (85lb) of meat in one meal.

Water Lovers
Tigers love water and often bathe or cool off in rivers and pools during the heat of the day. They usually hunt at night and rest during the day. Most tigers live alone, although mothers with cubs or young siblings sometimes hunt together. A male tiger roams a territory of up to 100sq km (60sq miles) in area, defining its boundaries with scent markings, droppings and scratch marks on boulders or trees. These signals tell other tigers about its sex and size as well as its territory. Tigers also communicate by roaring and moaning. They defend their territory fiercely against rival males, but will tolerate some overlap with the smaller territories of females.

Home Alone
Male tigers find females by their roars and scent marks. A pair of tigers may mate up to 100 times over two days. The female gives birth to her cubs in a den. She rears them on her own, suckling them until they are six months old. The cubs venture outside and start eating meat at eight weeks old. As they grow, the female has to hunt more often, but never moves far from her cubs. The youngsters can hunt at about a year old, but stay with their mother until the age of two.

A Shrinking Population
The number of Bengal tigers left in the wild has shrunk from 100,000 to about 4,000 over the last century. The main threats are loss of habitat, poaching, loss of prey and the trade in tiger parts for Eastern medicines. Most Bengal tigers now live in protected areas of India. Anti-poaching task forces have been set up and there is also a trade ban on tiger products in many countries.