At the start of the 20th century, there were more than 100,000 tigers living in the wild. However today, due to poaching, habitat loss and retaliation killings the number of tigers has scaled down to a few thousands. And if we don’t act immediately, then these magnificent creatures will disappear off the face of the Earth leaving behind only photographs and descriptions for the coming generation to see.
Though several organisations have been actively spreading awareness on saving these big cats, a lot of work is yet to be done to ensure that we safeguard tigers from extinction.
On World Tiger Day, here’s a look at 10 interesting facts and powerful slogans that will inspire you to fight for these glorious wild cats.
1. Tigers have been divide into 8 subspecies – Indian (or Bengal), Indo-Chinese, Sumatran, Amur (or Siberian), South China, Caspian (extinct), Java (extinct), and Bali (extinct).
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2. All tigers have more than 100 stripes on their body but not two tigers have the same pattern of stripes.
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3. Tigers keep their claws sharp by keeping it inside the retractable sheath and taking it out only when required for hunting.
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4. Tigers, Lions, Leopards and Jaguars are the only four types of cats that can roar but cannot purr.
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5. White Tigers are not albinos. They just do not have the orange colored genes.
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6. A tiger can leap as high as 10 feet in a single jump.
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7. The smallest of all tiger species is the Sumatran tiger and the largest the Siberian tiger.
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8. A tiger in one sitting may eat 22 to 32 kilograms of meat but it may also go hungry for weeks.
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9. The vision of the tiger is six times better than a human at night. They also hunt by hearing and sight and not by smell.
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10. All tiger subspecies put together currently amount to fewer than 3,000 endangered tigers remaining in the wild.
