Royal Bengal tiger

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 8 to 10 years

Size: Head and body, 5 to 6 ft (1.5 to 1.8 m); Tail, 2 to 3 ft (0.6 to 0.9 m)

Weight: 240 to 500 lbs (109 to 227 kg)

Did you know? A tiger's roar can be heard as far as two miles (three kilometers) away.

Protection status: Endangered

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man

The Bengal tiger is a large, striped cat from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma. It lives in a variety of habitats, including rainforests and dense grasslands. The Bengal tiger can live to about 18 years in captivity, and probably a few years less in the wild. Bengal tigers are mostly solitary, but sometimes travel in groups of 3 or 4. These tigers are in danger of extinction due to over-hunting by poachers.

A hungry tiger can eat as much as 60 pounds (27 kilograms) in one night, though they usually eat less. Females give birth to litters of two to six cubs, which they raise with little or no help from the male. Cubs cannot hunt until they are 18 months old and remain with their mothers for two to three years, when they disperse to find their own territory. At an average, male Bengal tigers weigh approximately 200-295 kg (440-650 lb) and females average between 140-160 kg (310-350 lb). However, there are recorded instances of shot males that weighed more than 300 kg. One large male killed in Nepal in 1942 weighed 318 kg, while another, killed in 1910 in India, and weighed 317 kg. The largest Bengal tiger ever shot was a male 3.3 m in total length and weighed closed to 390 kg (858 lb.); this feline giant was killed in 1967.

Male Bengal tigers are up to 10 ft (3 m) long; females are up to 9 ft (2.7 m) long. The tail is about 3 feet (0.9 m) long. The fur is usually orange-brown with black stripes. The fur on the belly is white with black stripes. White Bengal tigers (with white fur and black stripes) are very rare in the wild. Tigers have long, sharp teeth in powerful jaws. The Bengal tiger is a carnivore (meat-eater). The tiger often kills its prey with a bite on the neck. It eats deer, pigs, antelopes, cattle, young elephants, and buffalo.