Tigers are the largest members of the cat family and are renowned for their power and strength. As the largest member of the cat family, tigers are strong, powerful and one of nature’s most feared predators. Their beautiful orange and black striped coats provide camouflage when hunting prey at night when they can reach speeds of 65 km/hr (~40 mph).
The life cycle of an animal refers to the stages through which the average specimen goes during the entire period that extends from its birth to its eventual death.
The tiger has adapted to a great variety of environments, from the Siberian taiga, where nights can be as cold as −40 °C (−40 °F), to the mangrove swamps of the Sundarbans, where the temperatures reach more than 40 °C (104 °F). Tigers haunt the ruins of buildings such as courts and temples and are at home in habitats ranging from dry grassland to rainforest. Grasslands, mixed grassland-forests, and deciduous rather than densely canopied forests support maximum population densities, as these habitats maintain the highest number of prey species. Having evolved in the temperate and subtropical forests of eastern Asia, the tiger is less tolerant of heat than other large cats, which may explain why it is an adept swimmer that appears to enjoy bathing. Under stress it may climb trees. Naturally, tigers live longer when they are in captivity, since they are not under threat from poachers, starvation or fires. They receive protection and medical assistance as and when necessary. Therefore, tigers in captivity have been known to live for about 26 years. Those in the wild must fight a hard fight to survive. For this reason, their life is shorter, at an average of 10 years.
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