Tigers for Kids: Learn All About Tigers - FreeSchool

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Let's learn about tigers. Easily recognizable by their black and orange stripes, Discovery Channel Animals, the tiger is the largest species of cat on earth. Male tigers can reach a length of more than 11 feet or 3.3 meters, and a weight of more than 660 lbs or 300 kg in the wild.
 
They are mammals, which means they are warm-blooded, covered in fur, and they feed their babies milk. Tigers are also carnivores, which means that they eat meat. They are apex predators, meaning that tigers are at the top of the food chain. No other animals besides humans hunt tigers! They hunt by night, and may travel many miles to find buffalo, deer, wild pigs, and other large mammals. They will also eat smaller animals like monkeys, wild boar, lizards, and even porcupines. tiger-wild-animals-planet.
 
Although tigers are powerful animals, and can be fast over short distances, they cannot outrun fast animals like deer. Instead, they stalk their prey, relying on stealth to get close enough to attack from behind. Tigers are native to Asia, and live mostly in India, China, Bhutan, and Siberia. They live in a variety of habitats, anywhere from jungles, swamps, snowy pine forests, to grasslands. As long as there are places for them to hide, plenty of water, and enough animals to eat, tigers can thrive there. Unlike lions, who live together in prides, tigers live alone. The only time you would find tigers living together is when a mother tiger has cubs. The cubs will live with their mother for about two years before going off on their own. Just like the pet cats you have probably seen before, tigers can purr! Unlike their smaller relatives, tigers can also roar. The roar of a tiger can be heard from more than a mile or 2 kilometers away! Also, and unusually for a cat species, tigers love water and will often go swimming to cool themselves off.
 
Tigers are endangered. Only 3 to 4,000 tigers remain on the earth. About 100 years ago, there were more than 100,000 of them. Hunting by humans is one reason that tigers are disappearing. People will hunt and kill tigers for their striped fur, or whenever hungry tigers get too close to their villages. Another reason that tiger populations are declining is that their habitat is being destroyed. Tigers need a lot of wild land in which to live and hunt. As people cut down forests for cities and farms, the tigers have fewer and fewer places to make their homes.
 
Fortunately, people are working hard to save tigers from extinction. Protecting tigers from poachers, increasing and improving their habitats, and teaching people how to avoid conflicts with tigers are all good ways to help the tigers survive. I hope you enjoyed learning about tigers today.