Tiger: status, range, size and diet
The largest living cat, a striped forest hunter of Asia, now confined to a small fraction of its old range and listed as Endangered.
Also known as Panthera tigris, Bengal tiger, Siberian tiger, Amur tiger, Sumatran tiger
At a glance
| Scientific name | Panthera tigris |
|---|---|
| Group | Big cats |
| Weight | Males about 100-260 kg, females about 75-160 kg, varying with region |
| Length | Head and body about 140-280 cm, tail about 60-110 cm |
| Known for | Being the biggest of all cats, and the only big cat with a coat of bold vertical stripes. |
Status
| IUCN Red List category | Endangered |
|---|---|
| Assessed in | 2022 |
| Population estimate | Estimated 3,726-5,578 wild tigers, not counting cubs |
| Estimate from | 2022 |
Where it lives
| Range | Fragmented areas of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, northeastern China and the Russian Far East |
|---|---|
| Habitat | Forests of many kinds, from conifer and broadleaf forest in the north to tropical rainforest, mangrove and swamp in the south |
| Diet | Deer such as sambar and wapiti, wild pigs, gaur and other large hoofed mammals |
Main threats
- Poaching and trade in skins and bones
- Loss and fragmentation of forest
- Loss of prey
- Conflict with people and livestock
About
The tiger is the largest living cat. Its orange coat, black stripes and white underparts blend into the broken light of tall grass and forest, and no two tigers carry exactly the same stripe pattern. Males are clearly heavier than females, and tigers from cold northern forests are generally larger than those from the tropics, with the island tigers of Sumatra the smallest.
Tigers are solitary. Each adult keeps a territory, marks it with scent and scratches, and ambushes prey at close range rather than chasing it far. Unlike most cats they take readily to water and often rest or hunt in rivers and pools.
Where it lives and what it eats
Tigers once ranged from eastern Turkey and Iran across Central, South and Southeast Asia to the Russian Far East. They now occupy less than seven percent of that area. They are gone from West and Central Asia and from Java and Bali, and the remaining animals live in scattered patches, many of them inside protected areas.
They take large and medium hoofed mammals such as sambar, wapiti, gaur and wild boar, and also eat smaller animals when big prey is scarce. A tiger may need to kill a large animal every week or so.
Threats and conservation
The tiger has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List for decades, and the 2022 assessment counted more tigers than earlier ones, a rise that owes much to better surveying and does not by itself show a recovery. Poaching for skins and for bones and other parts used in traditional medicine remains the most direct danger. Clearing and fragmentation of forest, and the loss of the deer and pigs that tigers depend on, are the slower ones.
In 2010 the range countries set a goal of doubling wild numbers by 2022, and measures include armed patrols, camera-trap surveys, wildlife corridors between reserves and relocation of villages away from core habitat. Experts still disagree on how many subspecies exist. The IUCN Cat Specialist Group recognises two for now, though a longer traditional list of nine remains in wide use.
Cats and people
Where tigers share land with farmers and fishers, some kill livestock and a smaller number kill people, most often in places where forest edges meet fields and wild prey has run short. The mangroves of the Sundarbans are a well-known example. Tigers are among the most recognised animals in art, myth and national symbols across Asia. Zoos keep many tigers, and captive animals vastly outnumber wild ones in some countries, which makes the source and legal status of captive tigers an ongoing welfare and conservation concern.
Profile last reviewed November 7, 2026