Science, Tech, Math › Animals & Nature Tiger Pictures Share Flipboard Email Print Animals & Nature Mammals Amphibians Birds Habitat Profiles Reptiles Insects Marine Life Forestry Dinosaurs Evolution View More By Laura Klappenbach Laura Klappenbach Ecology Expert M.S., Applied Ecology, Indiana University Bloomington B.S., Biology and Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Laura Klappenbach, M.S., is a science writer specializing in ecology, biology, and wildlife. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on January 22, 2020 Tigers are the largest and most powerful of all cats. They are extremely agile despite their bulk and can leap between 8 and 10 meters in a single bound. They are also among the most recognizable of cats thanks to their distinct orange coat, black stripes, and white markings. 01 of 12 Tiger Swimming Photo © Christopher Tan Teck Hean / Shutterstock. Tigers are not water-fearing cats. They are, in fact, adept swimmers capable of crossing moderately sized rivers. As a result, water rarely poses a barrier to them. 02 of 12 Tiger Drinking Photo © Pascal Janssen / Shutterstock. Tigers are carnivores. They hunt at night and feed on large prey such as deer, cattle, wild pigs, young rhinoceroses, and elephants. They also supplement their diet with smaller prey such as birds, monkeys, fish, and reptiles. Tigers also feed on carrion 03 of 12 Tiger Photo © Wendy Kaveney Photography / Shutterstock. Tigers historically occupied a range that stretched from the eastern part of Turkey to the Tibetan plateau, Manchuria and the Sea of Okhotsk. Today, tigers occupy only about seven percent of their former range. More than half of the remaining wild tigers live in the forests of India. Smaller populations remain in China, Russia, and parts of Southeast Asia. 04 of 12 Sumatran Tiger Photo © Andrew Skinner / Shutterstock. The Sumatran tiger subspecies is restricted to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia where it inhabits montane forests, patches of lowland forests, peat swamps and freshwater swamps. 05 of 12 Siberian Tiger Photo © Plinney / iStockphoto. Tigers vary in color, size, and markings depending on their subspecies. Bengal tigers, which inhabit the forests of India, have quintessential tiger appearance: a dark orange coat, black stripes, and a white underbelly. Siberian tigers, the largest of all the tiger subspecies, are lighter in color and have a thicker coat that enables them to brave the harsh, cold temperatures of the Russian taiga. 06 of 12 Siberian Tiger Photo © China Photos / Getty Images. Tigers inhabit a wide range of habitats such as lowland evergreen forests, taiga, grasslands, tropical forests, and mangrove swamps. They generally require habitat with cover such as forests or grasslands, water resources, and enough territory to support their prey. 07 of 12 Siberian Tiger Photo © Chrisds / iStockphoto. The Siberian tiger inhabits eastern Russia, parts of northeastern China and northern North Korea. It prefers coniferous and broadleaf woodlands. The Siberian tiger subspecies nearly fell into extinction in the 1940s. At its lowest population count, the Siberian tiger population consisted of just 40 tigers in the wild. Thanks to the great efforts of Russian conservationists, the Siberian tiger subspecies have now recovered to more stable levels. 08 of 12 Siberian Tiger Photo © Steffen Foerster Photography / Shutterstock. Siberian tigers, the largest of all the tiger subspecies, are lighter in color and have a thicker coat that enables them to brave the harsh, cold temperatures of the Russian taiga. 09 of 12 Malayan Tiger Photo © Chen Wei Seng / Shutterstock. The Malayan tiger inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests of southern Thailand and the Malay Peninsula. Until 2004, the Malayan tigers were not classified as belonging to their own subspecies and were instead considered to be Indochinese tigers. Malayan tigers, though very similar to Indochinese tigers, are the smaller of the two subspecies. 10 of 12 Malayan Tiger Photo © Chen Wei Seng / Shutterstock. The Malayan tiger inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests of southern Thailand and the Malay Peninsula. Until 2004, the Malayan tigers were not classified as belonging to their own subspecies and were instead considered to be Indochinese tigers. Malayan tigers, though very similar to Indochinese tigers, are the smaller of the two subspecies. 11 of 12 Tiger Photo © Christopher Mampe / Shutterstock. Tigers are not water-fearing cats. They are, in fact, adept swimmers capable of crossing moderately sized rivers. As a result, water rarely poses a barrier to them. 12 of 12 Tiger Photo © Timothy Craig Lubcke / Shutterstock. Tigers are both solitary and territorial cats. They occupy home ranges that are between 200 and 1000 square kilometers, with females occupying smaller home ranges than males. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Klappenbach, Laura. "Tiger Pictures." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/tiger-pictures-4123215. Klappenbach, Laura. (2020, August 27). Tiger Pictures. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/tiger-pictures-4123215 Klappenbach, Laura. "Tiger Pictures." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/tiger-pictures-4123215 (accessed April 2, 2023). copy citation Featured Video