The Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) is native to Sumatra, an island of Indonesia.

The Sumatran Tiger has rich, shiny orange-brown fur with broad, dark, irregular, vertical stripes. It has a white ruff around its neck and long, white whiskers. Its paws are broad and sharply clawed.

It is unlike most other tigers, because it likes to swim. It has webbing between its toes to enable it to swim. On land, it can run quite fast, and pounce.

It is one of the smallest tiger species in the world, measuring about 2.55 metres (100 inches) in length.

They live in wild, dense forests, grasslands or wetlands, away from people.

It is an apex predator, because it is a top-level predator (with not many animals that attack it). Specifically, it is a carnivore because it eats meat.

The Sumatran Tiger is solitary, except at mating time. Females are pregnant for about 100 days, before giving birth to 1-6 live young, called cubs. The cubs are born blind, but soon gain their sight. Cubs stay with their mother for about two years. Fathers do not look after their cubs.

In the wild, tigers live up to 10-12 years.

 

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM