Tigers are an endangered creature and their population levels are decreasing. The primary threat to tigers comes from habitat loss, poaching, and rural development.
With only six surviving subspecies, it is believed that there are only 3,800 tigers left living out in the wild today. Because most of the threats to tigers are linked to human activities, actions can be taken to preserve this distinctive creature.
Interesting Facts About Tigers
#1. The tiger is the biggest species that is found in the cat family. Some tigers can weigh nearly 700 pounds and can be up to 11 feet in length.
#2. Tigers are known for both their strength and their power. These cats are one of the most feared predators in their natural habitat because of their ability to take down prey that is over twice the size of the cat.
#3. Tigers may like to roar, but this is a method of communication to speak with other tigers that are some distance away. These cats do not usually roar at other animals, but when they are hunting, you might hear a tiger start to hiss or have their fur begin to fluff out. The roar of a tiger can be heard from almost 2 miles away.
#4. Tigers are incredible jumpers. They have been found to leap distances of about 20 feet in one pounce. They have also been observed jumping over 15 feet vertically into their air.
#5. The legs of a tiger are so powerful that some cats have been observed standing upright even after they have died from a natural cause. This also makes the tiger an incredibly fast cat. At top speeds, tigers have been observed reaching 40 miles per hour.
#6. The tongue of a tiger is very much like sandpaper. If a tiger were to lick your skin, then the abrasions would be strong enough that the licking action would “scrape” skin away with only a few licks.
#7. Tigers will only eat meat. This makes them carnivores and their preference is for antelope or cattle-like creatures like the buffalo or gaur. Tigers will also hunt wild deer, boars, and similar prey.
#8. Tigers are one of the few cats that actually like to swim. In their natural habitats, you’ll often finding them swimming around in lakes, streams, or ponds as a way to cool off from the heat of the day.
#9. Every tiger is unique. The striping patterns on tigers have found to be like a fingerprint, completely unique to each tiger. This fact applies to all 5 known sub-species of tigers that are in the world today.
Live Tiger Cams
Tigers can be very active and playful. Like many cats, they also prefer to take long periods of rest throughout the day. These are the top web cameras that will allow you to watch tigers right now.
View Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo Tiger Cam.
View Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary Tiger Cam.
View Ediburgh Zoo Tiger Cam.
Live Tiger Zoo Webcams
Tigers can be fun to watch on a webcam provided by rescue sanctuaries or zoos, but this doesn’t always let you see how tigers behave in their natural habitat. If you’d like to see how tigers hunt, then the video from Bandipur, Raja, will let you see how a tiger hunts a large gaur successfully.
Sumatran Tiger Webcam at the National Zoo
This tiger cam live gives you a view of two Sumatran tigers on exhibit at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC. There are two tigers living at the zoo in a nice, relaxing area complete with pool, trees, shrubs and shade. Webcam has streaming video.
View Live Webcam: Sumatran Tiger Webcam at the National Zoo
Tigerhomes Live Tiger Cams
Tiger Homes is one of the best web sites on the Internet to watch tigers. You can see White tigers, Bengal, lions, Sumatran, Siberian and more. You can also see Lemurs.
View Live Webcam: Tigerhomes Live Tiger Cams
Mike The Tiger Webcam
This site has a live streaming webcam that gives a view of Mike the Tiger – the official mascot of LSU.
View Live Webcam: Mike The Tiger Webcam