"Tigress" redirects here. For other uses, see and .Tiger
Temporal range: early Pleistocene–Recent↓A (P. tigris tigris)
()Kingdom:Phylum:Subphylum:Class:Order:Family:Genus:Species:P. tigrisPanthera tigris
(, 1758)
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Tiger's historic range in about 1850 (pale yellow) and in 2006 (in green).Felis tigris , 1758
Tigris striatus , 1858
Tigris regalis , 1867
The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest , reaching a total body length of up to 3.38 m (11.1 ft) over curves and exceptionally weighing up to 388.7 kg (857 lb) in the wild. Its most recognisable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with a lighter underside. The species is classified in the genus with the , , and . Tigers are , primarily preying on such as and . They are territorial and generally animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey requirements. This, coupled with the fact that they are indigenous to some of the more densely populated places on Earth, has caused significant .
Tigers once ranged widely across , from in the west to the eastern coast of . Over the past 100 years, they have lost 93% of their historic range, and have been extirpated from southwest and central Asia, from the islands of and , and from large areas of and . Today, they range from the Siberian to open and tropical swamps. The remaining six tiger subspecies have been classified as by . The global population in the wild is estimated to number between 3,062 and 3,948 individuals, down from around 100,000 at the start of the 20th century, with most remaining populations occurring in small pockets isolated from each other, of which about 2,000 exist on the . Major reasons for population decline include , and . The extent of area occupied by tigers is estimated at less than 1,184,911 km2 (457,497 sq mi), a 41% decline from the area estimated in the mid-1990s.
Tigers are among the most recognisable and popular of the world's . They have featured prominently in ancient and , and continue to be depicted in modern films and literature. They appear on many , , and as for sporting teams. The tiger is the of , , , and .
