The San Diego Zoo and the Smithsonian's National Zoo count six living subspecies of tigers. A subspecies is one kind of tiger. The Amur tiger is the largest kind of tiger. The Sumatran tiger is the smallest kind, and Sumatran tigers weigh up to 140 kilograms. Tigers are among the largest cats in the world.

Tigers are good swimmers. They can easily cross rivers up to 8 kilometers wide. Tigers live in Asia, and they live in many kinds of places, such as forests, mangrove swamps and snowy mountains.

A tiger has a reddish-orange coat with dark stripes. No two tigers have the same stripes. The stripes help a tiger blend into its surroundings. Amur tigers have paler orange coats and fewer stripes than other tigers.

Tigers eat deer and wild pigs. Tigers hunt mostly at night. A tiger's eyes reflect light back, which helps it make a better picture in dim light. Tigers find their prey by using sight and sound. A tiger moves slowly and quietly when it stalks.

A tiger mother is pregnant for about three months. She usually has 2 or 3 cubs at a time. Tiger cubs are born small and helpless. The cubs stay with their mother for about two years. Wild tigers usually live 10 to 15 years.

Tigers mostly live alone. Tigers mark their territory by scratching trees. That is one way a tiger marks the place where it lives.

Words to know

• subspecies: a kind
• stalks: sneaks up
• territory: an animal's area
• mangrove: a swamp tree