Final Project Part II

     They are white, black, maybe kind of grey, and have huge paws. They can pur like a kitten, but roar like a lion. But most of all, it's my favorite animal. The Siberian Tiger is a very beautiful, and interesting type of cat. Their life styles are fairly different from our, but have some similarities.
     The Siberian Tiger has very unusual habits. Although cubs are exceptional, theses tigers usually live alone. Living alone alows the them to be able to sneak up on their prey, by this they can hunt better. And can provide more food for themselves.
     They usually hunt in there territory. A tigers territory is aproximatly between 10 and 30 square miles. This varies depending on the amount of food available. Territories often over lap, and this also causes problems between these cats. There are between 5,000 and 7,000 wild tigers living across Asia. How could territories not over lap?
     Female tigers usually mature around 3 years, then are ready to mate. Males mature a year later. When a female tiger is ready to mate, she lets the male tigers know by marking trees and such with her sent, and letting out loud roars. In temperate climates the female tiger goes into heat seasonally, but in Tropical climates they could go into heat a couple of times a year. A tiger can only reproduce when she is in heat. Tigers usually mate for aproximatly 103 days. After mating the male leaves, and doesn't come back to help raise the cubs. Males are generally intolerant of cubs, so the female raises the cubs alone. A tiger can have up to 3 cubs per each mating period, but one usually dies at birth.
     Tigers have a very big diet, so it wouldn't be a good thing to come across one when its hungry. Although they prefer to feed on wild pigs, wild cattle, and several types of species of deer, there is no saying that they wouldn't attack a human if he/she was hungry. A tiger can eat up to 40 pounds at a time, and could survive without eating for several days. This is almost half of what I weigh.
     Tigers are very healthy so they live pretty long lives. They averagely live for 8-15 years, but if they are catpured and raised in a zoo, they hae a chance of living for 16-20 years.
     Although Siberian Tigers are beautiful and seem very playful, they can also be very dangerous. So just watch them from a distance. And capture the beauty of this intriguing creature.

Resources:
http://www.tigerhomes.org/cam/white_tiger.cfm
http://projecttiger.nic.in/naturehabitat.asp