Tigers

Paula Hammond is a best-selling author. She has written over 50 fiction and non- fiction books, as well as short stories, comics, poetry and scripts for educational DVDs. Her titles include: The Atlas of Endangered Animals, The Atlas of Dangerous Animals, Predators and Bugs. When not glued to the keyboard, she can usually be found prowling round second-hand books shops or hunkered down in a hide, soaking up the joys of the natural world.

• Introduction 1. Tiger Species All of today’s tigers are believed to be descended from a common ancestor who lived around 72,000–108,000 years ago. Tigers are the world’s biggest wild cat and the Siberian tiger is the biggest of them all. This chapter features Siberian, Sumatran, Bengal, Indochinese, South China and Malayan. Physical traits of different species, how they compare and contrast. Close-up images of their coats/stripes/teeth.2. Habitat Adaptable and tenacious, these iconic creatures are equally at home in evergreen forests, mangrove swamps, rocky mountains, snowy highlands, coniferous woodlands and grasslands. Like all animals they thrive where the threats are low and the food, water and shelter are plentiful. This chapter focuses on how they adapt to their environment and how they are under threat from habitat loss.3. Hunting Tigers are apex predators. They sit at the top of their food chain, and rarely compete for resources with other animals. Yet they’re far more than just powerful killers. This chapter focuses on how and what they eat.4. Tiger Cubs Cubs are playful and adventurous by nature but, in the wild, there are threats everywhere. There’s also the very real risks posed by male tigers, who may kill cubs in order to bring the female into oestrus, so that she’s ready to mate with him. Only around half of all young tigers reach adulthood and, for the tigress, the work of keeping them safe starts immediately.