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Page 1 of 2 Tiger is the largest living member of the cat family. It has a graceful built. The reddish yellow coat with black stripes gives it a royal look. Ventrally it is white. Its ears are black on the outside and each of them has a prominent white spot on it. The scientific name of tiger is 'Panthera tigris'. The origin of the cat family from what we know today is Siberia. From there, they migrated down south as the climate became colder.
Tigers are found in Siberia, Manchuria and the Asian continent. In Asia, India and Malaysia are the two prominent countries where tigers live. The Indian tigers, the Royal Bengal tigers are the most graceful animals found in Sundarban in Bengal.In India we had over forty thousand tigers in the beginning of the 20th century. Today it is very sad to note that the statistics is much lower.
 The reasons for tiger becoming an endangered species are uncontrolled felling of trees resulting in the shrinkage of the habitat of the tiger, decrease of preys, increase of poaching for its beautiful skin. The treat of extinction forced the government of India to initiate the 'Project Tiger' on the first of April 1973 when the tiger population was less than 2000. Initially nine tiger reserves were selected. This number has now increased.
The tiger lives in varied habitats open jungles, humid evergreen forests and mango grove swamps. Its diet consists mainly of deer, antelopes, gaurs and wild pigs. Sometimes it also captures birds, lizards, turtles, fishes, frogs and crabs. Tigers hunt on their own and usually lead a solitary existence, each in its own territory. They are endowed with good swimming power but seldom climb trees.
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