Top 20 Quick Facts About The Tiger:

01:Tiger cubs are born blind and only half of the cubs survive.

02:Tigers are the largest cat species in the world and the third-largest carnivore on land--only polar and brown bears are larger.

03:Tigers can sprint at over 60 kilometer/hour.

04:Tigers do not normally view humans as a prey.

05:Weaker cubs get less food because of the aggressiveness of their stronger siblings as food is less frequently made available.

06:No two tigers have the same stripes. Like human fingerprints, their stripe patterns are unique to each individual. 

07:Unlike most big cats, tigers are powerful swimmers and have been known to swim great distances to hunt or cross rivers.

08:Tigers have antiseptic saliva.

09:A tiger's hind legs are longer than its front legs, giving them the ability to leap forward 20 - 30 feet in one jump.

10:Tigers urine smells like buttered popcorn.

11:Tigers live between 20-26 years in the wild.

12:Black tigers have been reported less frequently from the dense forests of Myanmar (Burma), Bangladesh, and eastern India.

13:Tigers rarely roar and are humble towards their group.

14:The tiger usually hunts by night and preys on a variety of animals, but it prefers fairly large prey such as deer (sambar, chital, and swamp deer) and wild pigs.

15:A tigress does not breed again until her cubs are independent. 

16:Tigers prefer to hunt by ambush.

17:An adult tiger can consume up to 88 pounds of meat in one meal and will often stay with its kill or bury it to return and dine over a period of days.

18:The Sumatran tiger is the smallest, with males only weighing up to 310 pounds.

19:Tigers communicate using scent markings, visual signals and lots of sounds like roars, growls, snarls, grunts, moans, mews and hisses.

20:Tigers are a keystone species. They're integral to the health of the ecosystems in which they live. As apex predators, they keep prey species under control. This protects the vegetation which in turn maintains the integrity of the ecosystem.

Bonus Fact: Certain animist communities still worship the tiger. In Hindu mythology the tiger is the vahana (“vehicle”) of the goddess Durga. Tigers are represented on seals from the ancient Indus civilization. Every 12th year of the Chinese calendar is the year of the tiger, and children born in it are considered especially lucky and powerful.