Tigers belong to the cat family, in fact, they are the largest cats of the family.There are many big cats that live in the forest, some have spots, some have stripes, and some have nothing. Tigers are the ones with stripes.But why stripes and not spots or squares? Tigers need to hide from their prey to catch it. That’s why they have stripes for being camouflaged in the bushes.Tigers are not as fast as cheetahs, nor as strong as lions. But these predators need some specialty to hunt food for themselves in the competitive environment of the forest. So they evolved as being stripey to hide from their prey and disguise themselves as the bushes, trees, and foliage, and attack at the right time. Most of their prey, mainly deer, is colorblind, so they can not differentiate between the green grass and orange tiger. All they see are some stripes which they believe to be grass, and the tigers seem to be hidden in plain sight. This helps the tigers to catch their prey easily.After reading about the reason behind tigers’ distinctive striped coats and if it is indicative of their age, also check out why do llamas spit and why do lions have manes.No two tigers have the same stripes, is this true?Yes, it is perfectly true that no two tigers have the same stripe pattern. Every tiger has its own style of stripes which is as unique as the fingerprints of each human being. You and your friend do not have the same fingerprints and similarly, the tiger and its friends do not have the same style of stripes. These distinctive striped coats help tigers to disguise themselves as grass and make them hard to spot by their prey.These stripes are so unique for every tiger that in the reserves and conservation areas they are named and identified by their stripes. Most people think that these stripes are only the tiger’s fur. But these stripes are the body prints of the tigers which make them distinguish themselves from others. Tigers are identified by their family members by these stripes, as your mom identifies you by your face. But since tigers’ faces are not unique enough to differentiate them, these markings and distinctive striped coats help in that.Do white tigers have stripes?Yes, white tigers also have stripes. White tigers are the same as the common orange tiger. The only difference between a white tiger and an orange tiger is that the white tigers have a lack of pigmentation which makes them look white instead of orange.It is much like human beings. We also have people of different colors. This is only because of the environment in which they live and the type of nutrition they get. The genes also play an important role in this variation of colors.White tigers also have horizontal black stripes like an orange tiger. But there is some genetic condition that makes the stripes of white tigers nearly invisible. This makes them look like stripeless tigers. It is not that they do not have stripes, it’s just that the stripes are so faint that they are only visible from a certain angle and in a certain set of lights. These are visible only when seen up close. In the normal light, they look snowy white without stripes. Next time when you visit a zoo and see a white tiger, remember these facts about them. You can also impress your friends, teachers, and parents by telling them these things, they might not know.Did early tigers have stripes?Firstly, a tiger is a tiger when it has stripes. The ancestors of tigers did not have stripes but the genetic changes brought stripes to their bodies. Experts have explained the reasons why tigers have stripes and it is called Turing’s mechanism. They relate the stripes on the tiger’s body with their vertebrae.So the early tigers did not have stripes as the new ones do. They evolved and became stripey. Do you know that tigers are the only big cats that have stripes? This makes them a unique kind of big cat.Not all tigers have black stripes. The color of the stripes on the body of a tiger is determined by its genetic modifications. The famous orange tigers have brightly tattooed black stripes. The pure white tigers have white or off-white stripes, which are sometimes hardly visible to human eyes. The golden tabby tigers have brown stripes on their body. These differences are also contributed to by the environment in which they live.How did tigers get their stripes?Well, the reason behind the stripes of the tigers is very scientific. Scientists have theories to explain the process of forming stripes on a tiger’s skin. This is all because of the working agents in their body which are responsible for their skin color and tissues of other parts of the body. The theory is explained below.The theory about how tigers got their stripes is propounded by the renowned mathematician and biologist, Alan Turing around 1950. The theory is called the Morphogen Theory. The theory suggests that there is a multitude of interactions that involve pairs of signaling molecules called morphogens. These are responsible for tissue formation. Turing explained that each of such pairs has an activator and an inhibitor that work together. The activator forms something on the tiger’s body and the inhibitor stops it from doing so. This led to the formation of striped markings on a tiger’s body.Here are a few unusual facts about tigers for you:The stripes on a tiger’s body have a certain frequency that matches perfectly with the background of their habitat to hide from the prey. Similarly, the frequency of zebra’s stripes is also according to their habitat’s background to hide from predators. There’s another reason for the zebra’s stripes. It is to regulate the temperature of their bodies. The black stripes absorb heat and the white ones help them to cool down by reflecting more and more heat.Do you remember the tiger from the movie ‘The Jungle Book’? That tiger was the famous Bengal tiger which is one of the most famous tigers all over the world. They are famously known as Royal Bengal tigers and are the national animal of India. These are the only breed of tigers that inhabit mangrove forests. Also, Royal Bengal tigers are very powerful, and their power was proven when one of them was seen dragging a dead bison. Do you know that there’s a requirement of 13 people to move a bison? That tiger did that alone. Now you understand how powerful these cats are.Tigers have antiseptic properties in their saliva. This helps them to recover from their wounds and cuts in the wild. As you know that they can’t go to the doctors as you do!Here’s a fun fact, tigers don’t see humans as food unless we try to harm them. They are the biggest cat of the cat family and very fierce. They do not harm others unless they feel any danger from them. But unfortunately, they are on the list of Endangered species and need to be protected. If they don’t survive, then the entire ecosystem will become disrupted and imbalanced. Humanity needs to take a stand, across every city in the world for their conservation.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for why do tigers have stripes then why not take a look at why do lions roar or Siberian tiger facts?
Tigers belong to the cat family, in fact, they are the largest cats of the family.
