Kathleen A. Klatte - Tigers

Published in 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

First Edition

Editor: Elizabeth Krajnik

Book Design: Reann Nye

Photo Credits: Cover Setta Sornnoi/Shutterstock.com; p. 4 Popova Valeriya/Shutterstock.com; p. 5 dptro/Shutterstock.com;p. 6 dangdumrong/Shutterstock.com; p. 7 seng chye teo/Moment/Getty Images; pp. 8, 16 Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock.com;p. 9 PhotocechCZ/Shutterstock.com; p. 10 Sarawut Aiemsinsuk/Shutterstock.com; p. 11 Stanislav Duben/Shutterstock.com;p. 13 Chaithanya Krishnan/Shutterstock.com; p. 14 Sasha Samardzija/Shutterstock.com; p. 15 Picture by Tambako the Jaguar/ Moment Open/Getty Images; p. 17 neelsky/Shutterstock.com; p. 18 jeep2499/Shutterstock.com; p. 19 Gannet77/E+/Getty Images; p. 21 Subhendu Sarkar/LightRocket/Getty Images; p. 22 ehtesham/Shutterstock.com.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Klatte, Kathleen A.

Title: Tigers / Kathleen A. Klatte.

Description: New York : PowerKids Press, 2020. | Series: Killers of the animal kingdom | Includes glossary and index.

Identifiers: ISBN 9781725306219 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781725306233 (library bound) | ISBN 9781725306226 (6 pack)

Subjects: LCSH: Tiger--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC QL737.C23 K53 2020 | DDC 599.756--dc23

Manufactured in the United States of America

CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #CSPK19: For Further Information contact Rosen Publishing, New York, New York at 1-800-237-9932

BLACK, WHITE, AND ORANGE

Tigers are beautiful members of the cat family. Many people have seen tigers in zoos. Theyre easily recognized for their orange fur with white bellies and black stripes. Sometimes, a tigers stripes are brown or gray.

Tigers live in a number of different habitats in Asia, from Russia to Sumatra. Tigers are solitary animals, which means they live and hunt alone. These giant predators are apex predators, which means theyre at the top of the food chain and they have no natural predators. Theyre carnivores, which means they eat only meat. Read on to find out more about these striped hunters!

Tigers are large predators with sharp teeth, powerful jaws, and big claws for hunting and killing their prey.

TIGER SUBSPECIES

All tigers living in the world today belong to the same species, Panthera tigris. Scientists have grouped tigers into different subspecies depending upon where they live, their size, and their genetic makeup. However, scientists often disagree about how many subspecies of tiger there are.

KILLER FACTS

Bengal tigers are the largest group of tigers living in the wild about half of all living tigers. The largest population of Bengal tigers lives in India.

Sometimes Bengal tigers have white babies. This happens when both a mother and a father tiger carry a type of gene that controls the coat color of their baby. White tigers are very rare in the wild.

Some scientists believe tigers should be separated into six subspecies. The Bengal (Indian), Siberian (Amur), Sumatran, Malayan, and Indochinese tigers can be found in the wild. The South China tiger may exist only in zoos today. Other scientists believe tigers should be separated into only two subspecies: the tigers of mainland Asia and the tigers of Sumatra, Java, and Bali.

TIGER HABITATS

Tigers used to live in many parts of eastern and southern Asia, as well as in some parts of central and western Asia and the Middle East. Over time, tigers ranges have gotten smaller. Today, tigers are found in a number of different habitats. They like living in forests, swamps, and grasslands. However, no matter what type of habitat tigers live in, their range only goes as far as their prey is found.

Tigers that live in warm places, such as tropical islands and rain forests, like the water and are strong swimmers. They will swim to cool off or to chase prey.

Tigers have adaptations to help them live in their habitat. For example, tigers that live in colder places grow heavy fur in the winter and have large, padded feet to help them move through snow.

TIGER SIZE

Tigers are the largest members of the cat family. Siberian tigers are the largest subspecies of tiger. Male Siberian tigers can grow to be about 13 feet (4 m) long and weigh up to 660 pounds (300 kg). A tigers tail may be as long as 3 feet (0.9 m). Female tigers are shorter and weigh less than males.

The Siberian tiger has the lightest fur of any tiger. This helps it blend in with its surroundings.

Tigers look different and are different sizes depending on where they live. Tiger subspecies tend to be smaller the farther south they live. Sumatran tigers are the smallest and lightest living subspecies. Males are about 8 feet (2.4 m) long and weigh about 260 pounds (117.9 kg).

BLENDING IN

Tigers hunt their prey by sneaking up on it and attacking. Even though you may think a tigers fur would make it stick out, it actually helps it blend in. When the sun shines through the trees and leaves, it makes shadows. The tigers stripes look a bit like these shadows.

Tiger stripes also break up the parts of the tigers body shape, making it hard for their prey to see them. This type of camouflage, or blending in, is called disruptive coloration. When a few tigers are together, their stripes can make it hard for their prey to tell how many tigers there are.

KILLER FACTS

Each tigers stripes are one of a kind, just like a persons fingerprints. No two tigers have the same pattern of stripes. Scientists use tiger stripes to tell which tiger is which.