Today is International Tiger Day, a day to celebrate these majestic, endangered wild cats that are renowned for their beautiful coats and black stripes.
These elusive, solitary Asian creatures have long inspired awe. They are the national animal of Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Malaysia and South Korea. Every year, travelers flock to such places as Ranthambore and Bandhavgarh National Parks in India just for a chance of spotting one of these creatures in their natural habitat. And yet, tigers are highly endangered and are listed on the IUCN red list,
Business Insider spoke with Ullas Karanth, Director for Asia at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and tiger researcher, to learn more about these beautiful big cats and the threats they face today. Here are some of the most interesting things that we learned.
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Tigers are strictly an Asian species. Tiger fossils were discovered in China suggest that the species could be over two million years old.
Source: J.H. Mazak et al, PLoS ONE
Today, tigers are the largest of the big cats in the world, weighing up to 660 pounds. They can get up to 10 feet in length — with their tails alone measuring three feet. Tigers are also incredible jumpers, able to pounce at least 10 meters (approximately 32 feet).
Source: WWF
Able to live in a variety of forest and grassland environments,”tigers are versatile,” said Karanth. “They can live in temperatures ranging from -35 degrees Celsius in Russia to 48 degrees Celsius in India [and] they can adapt to annual rainfall as low as 600mm to as high as 8000mm.”
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