Tigers have long fascinated people for their agility, super strength, and unique hunting methods. For centuries, tigers have adapted to dominate the ecological niche of the rainforest. Many people, especially children, would love to know what tigers do in the wild. That’s why we bring you some of the most amazing and fun facts about tigers for kids.

The Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is the only big cat that lives in the forests of Russia. The tiger is adapted to living in a cold habitat. An isolated population is also found in eastern Mongolia, Korea, and the Russian Far East. There are only a few Siberian cats that live in wild habitats and only between 480 and 540 individuals survive. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the Siberian tiger as a critically endangered species.

• Tigers are not only the largest living cats, but they are also one of the largest carnivorous land mammals, second only to polar bears.
• Each tiger has unique stripes on its body. Neither individual resembles the other in their stripes. It’s like human fingerprints.
• There are three extinct species: Bali tiger, Caspian tiger, and Javanese tiger. The white tiger is not a recognized subspecies; It is a pigment variant of the Bengal tiger.
• Unlike any other cat, tigers are extraordinary swimmers. They can even chase prey in the water. This is one of its traits that make the tiger the deadliest land predator.
• Big cats are twilight hunters because they remain active at dusk or in the early hours of darkness. They have keen eyesight with the help of which the animal sees things quite clearly at night.
• While Siberian cats are the largest subspecies, Malayan tigers are the smallest of living cats. The South China tiger is possibly the rarest of all cats.
• The big cats don’t live in Africa and they probably never saw some of the African animals like the ostrich. Tigers are Asian species.
• Cats prefer to make their homes in dense wooded habitats that also offer some water. They need to drink most of the day and tigers never live too far from the water source.
• Unlike cheetahs, big cats feed on medium to large-sized prey. It has the ability to kill prey almost the size of its own. Tigers are purely carnivores.
• These cats are very threatened species. In 1900 there were about 100,000 tigers surviving in the wild, but now fewer than 6,000 remain in the natural rainforest.
• The Siberian tiger is the only tiger subspecies that goes by many names. The cat is also called the Amur tiger, the Korean tiger, the Usurian tiger, and the Manchurian tiger.
• Siberian cats are only slightly larger than the Bengal subspecies. The Bengal and Siberian tigers are the largest of the living cats. The Siberian cat is the second largest land mammal on earth.
• The Siberian cat has the largest skull of all cats that resembles the lion’s skull in its size.
• Since they live in cold places, Siberian cats are insulated with a dense coat. Also, they have longer whiskers than those of Bengal tigers.
• The historical range of Siberian cats includes Lake Baikal, Northeast China, and Manchuria. Currently the cat has become extinct in all these areas.
• Siberian tigers like to make their homes in a complex of deciduous conifers and Korean pine broadleaf forests. They make habitats in wooded forests because it allows them to hide in the forest.
• A cat also feeds on Siberian roe deer, wild boar, sika deer, and Manchurian elk.
• The Amur tiger population has increased from 331 to 540 in the last ten years. The main reason is that now most of the tigers are raised in reserves and protected areas.
• They are great travelers. Siberian cats cover up to 1000 km (620 miles) in distance. The only barrier is the border between the countries.
• Amur tigers are solitary outside of the breeding months. During the mating season, the male spends almost a week with the female, after which both parties. The female leaves urine marks on the tree showing her willingness to mate. It also marks its territory by either scratching trees or leaving urine deposits.