Tiger facts:
Distribution, Biology, Habitat and Legal Protection
Historical and present day range
Eight sub-species of tiger, comprising more than 100,000 individuals,
roamed the Earth at the turn of the last century (figure 1a). But in the last
50-60 years - five cycles of the Year of the Tiger - three have become
extinct due mainly to human persecution and habitat loss. The Bali tiger
was the first to go in the 1940s, followed by the Caspian in the 1970s.
The remaining five sub-species of tiger - the Bengal (Indian), the Amur
(Siberian), the South China, Sumatran and Indo-Chinese - range over 14
states: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, North Korea, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam (figure
1a).
General biology and habitat
Tigers are the largest of all living cats: a male can be up to three metres
in length and weigh around 200 kg, although there is a tremendous range
in size between sub-species and sexes. Tigers are normally solitary,
except for females with cubs. Mating takes place all year round.
Gestation is around 103 days and an average litter is two or three cubs.
Cubs reach independence between 18 and 28 months.
Females first breed after three years and usually reproduce every two
years until they are about nine or 10 years old. The average breeding life
of a female is 6.1 years. Males start to breed when they are four or five
years old. Longevity of tigers in the wild is little studied but some are
known to live up to 17 years.
Tigers are territorial and occupy relatively large habitats, the size of
which usually depends on the density of their prey. Their wide
distribution, covering five bio-regions (the Indian sub-continent,
Indo-China, South-east Asia, central and southern China, and the
Russian Far East), covers eight important habitats - boreal taiga;
temperate broadleaf and mixed conifer forests; alluvial grasslands;
subtropical moist deciduous forest; subtropical and temperate upland
forest; tropical moist evergreen forest; tropical dry forests and
mangroves.
Tigers have adapted to living in each different habitat and therefore prey
on a wide variety of animals. In general, they feed predominately on large
deer species and wild boar. Occasionally they will kill larger species
such as wild cattle, elephant and rhino calves. They are also
opportunistic and will kill monkeys, birds, reptiles and fish as well as
more unusual prey such as crocodiles and leopards. Males have been
known to kill cubs fathered by other tigers.
Tiger densities depend on the quality of the habitat and the prey it
supports. Factors regulating these numbers vary in different regions, so
conserving tigers entails protecting large areas of their habitat and sound
management of their prey.
Legal status
Tigers are classified by IUCN (the World Conservation Union) as
endangered and they are protected by the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) which came
into force in 1975 to regulate the trade in endangered wildlife. From the
beginning all tigers (except the Amur) were listed on Appendix 1, which
bans international trade in tigers and their body parts. In 1986 this
protection was extended to the Amur tiger.
This international treaty is now signed by 143 nations including India,
Russia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.
Burma and Cambodia joined in 1997. All tiger range countries except
Bhutan and Laos are now parties to CITES, as are the main consumer
countries of tiger bone - China and South Korea. Taiwan cannot be a
signatory because it is not recognised as a country by the United
Nations. Nevertheless, it is implementing controls no less strict than the
CITES regulations themselves.
Despite the international ban applied by Appendix 1, illegal international
trade continues around the world.