TIGER (Fells tigris), an animal only rivalled by the lion in size, strength and ferocity among the cat-like beasts of prey (see CARNivoRA), the difference between the two lying mainly in the skin and its coverings. A tiger's skull may, however, always be distinguished from that of a lion by the circumstance that the nasal bones extend higher on the forehead than the maxillae, in stead of stopping on nearly the same line. Although examples of both species present considerable variations in size, the length of the largest Bengal tiger may exceed that of any lion. Ten feet from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail is no unusual length for a large male tiger. The female is somewhat smaller, and has a lighter and narrower head. The tiger has no mane, but in old males the hair on the cheeks is rather long and spreading. The ground-colour of the upper and outer parts of the head, body, limbs and tail, is bright rufous fawn ; and these parts are beauti fully marked with transverse stripes of a dark, almost black col our. The markings vary much in different individuals, and even on the two sides of the same individual. The under-parts of the body, the inside of the limbs, the cheeks and a large spot over each eye are nearly white. The tigers which inhabit hotter re gions, as Bengal and the south Asiatic islands, have shorter and smoother hair, and are more richly coloured and distinctly striped than those of northern China and Siberia, in which the fur is longer, softer and lighter-coloured. Black and white phases have been recorded, but they are rare. The tiger is exclusively Asiatic, but has a wide range in that continent, having been found in al most all suitable localities south of a line drawn from the River Euphrates, passing along the southern shores of the Caspian and Sea of Aral by Lake Baikal to the Sea of Okhotsk. Its most northern range is the territory of the Amur, its most southern the islands of Sumatra, Java and Bali. Westward it reaches to Turk ish Georgia and eastward to the island of Sakhalin. It is absent, however, from the great elevated plateau of Central Asia, nor does it inhabit Ceylon, Borneo or the other islands of the Indo Malay archipelago, except those named.
The principal food of the tiger in India is cattle, deer, wild hog and pea-fowl, and occasionally human beings. The regular "man
eater" is generally an old tiger whose vigour is past, and whose teeth are worn and defective; it takes up its abode in the neigh bourhood of a village, the popu lation of which it finds an easier prey than wild animals. Though chiefly affecting grassy plains or swamps, tigers are also found in forests, and seem to be fond of haunting the neighbourhood of old ruins. As a rule, they do not climb trees; but when pressed by fear, as during an inundation, they have been known to do so. They take to the water readily and are good swimmers.
The tigress gives birth to from two to six cubs, but three is the common number. She is an affectionate mother, and generally guards and trains her young with watchful solicitude. They remain with her until nearly full-grown, or about the second year, when they are able to kill for themselves. Whilst they remain with her she defends them with great courage and energy, and when robbed of them is terrible in her rage ; but she has been known to desert them when pressed, and even to eat them when starved. As soon as they begin to require other food than her milk, she kills for them, teaching them to do so for themselves by practising on small animals. The tiger and the lion occasionally hybridize.
See Sir J. Fayrer, Royal Tiger of Bengal (1875) ; F. W. Champion, With a Camera in Tiger Land (1927).
typically Felis tigrina, an American wild cat ranging from Mexico, on the east of the Andes, to Paraguay and the central forest region of Argentina. It measures something over 3oin., including the tail. The fur is grizzly grey, with black spots. The name is also applied to the ocelot (q.v.).
botanically Tigridia, a genus of bulbous plants (family Iridaceae), natives of Mexico, Central America, Peru and Chile. They have long narrow plicately-veined leaves springing from the bulb and a stem bearing two or three scattered smaller leaves and above a few flowers emerging from a spathe. The flowers are spotted (whence the name tiger-flower or tiger iris) and have free segments springing from a tube; the three large broad outer segments are concavely spreading, the three inner are much smaller and more erect. T. Pavonia (flower of Tigris or tiger-flower) has large flowers with a golden orange, white or yellow ground colour.