6 Things You Didn’t Know About Tigers & How You Can Help Them Thrive

Learn six incredible facts about tigers, the largest of the big cats and an apex predator now facing extinction, with only 5,000 left in the wild. This guide highlights the urgent need for tiger conservation, detailing key threats and offering impactful ways to help, such as supporting WWF adoption programs and practising ethical consumption to reduce habitat loss. Every action, including supporting organisations dedicated to wildlife support, counts in preserving the tiger subspecies for future generations.

Christmas is right around the corner, and the year is drawing to a close. Now I don’t know about you, but this close to the holidays, my brain has effectively gone into limp home mode. So this week, I thought we’d talk about something a little chill, and that is tigers.

The tiger is the Member Jungle logo, Member Jungle sponsors a tiger through the WWF, and I personally have a great love for tigers. So, in celebration of tigers (and acknowledgment that we all basically have mush for brains this close to Christmas), let’s talk about six incredible facts about tigers and a few ways that you can help them thrive this Christmas.

1. Tiger’s Urine Smells Like Popcorn
 

 

Yeah, you read that right. According to people who have smelled tigers' wee, it smells like popcorn, buttered popcorn to be exact. 

According to scientists, this is due to a compound called 2-AP, which is found in both popcorn and the urine of tigers. So, they don’t just smell similar; the smell is coming from the same source. 

2. Tigers Have A Paralytic Roar
 

 

A tiger’s roar can be heard from up to 3km away and is so iconic that it is the roar used in MGM’s famous lion roaring title you see at the start of movies. A lion’s real roar is more of a very loud grunt and isn’t as impressive, hence the switch. 

It doesn’t stop there, however, a tiger’s roar also contains infrasound, which are low-frequency sounds below 20 Hz that humans cannot hear. These infrasound waves allow for long-distance communication between tigers. However, if infrasound is intense enough and close enough, humans and other animals can physically feel it. It can penetrate bone and cause organs to vibrate and has been proven to cause feelings of unease, disorientation, fear, depression and revulsion. 

What this means is that, if a tiger roars at its prey, it can basically temporarily paralyse it, as the prey is overcome with disorientation and dread. 

3. There Are 6 Different Colour Variations Of Tigers
 

 

The standard colour of all tigers is orange with black stripes; it’s basically a tiger’s default setting. However, due to recessive genes and mutations, occasionally tigers come in more than just orange. 

White Tigers

White tigers are caused by leucism; they are not albinos. Lecuism is a recessive genetic condition that can cause animals to lose a partial amount of all their pigment. Essentially, they have a reduced amount of melanin; this differs from albinism, which causes animals to lose all their pigment. 

Animals with leucism will still have some pigment, and as such, will still have some colour and will not have pink eyes like those with albinism. 

 

 

Golden Tigers

Golden Tigers are due to a very rare polymorphism. Where a gene has more than one way to express itself, essentially, the gene could code for the standard orange and black, but very rarely it can also happen to code for gold and light brown. 

 

 

Snow White Tiger

The snow white tiger is caused when a tiger inherits the recessive genes that cause leucism, and also happens to have the polymorphism of a golden tiger. They are exceedingly rare and only really seen in captivity. It’s basically lecusim turning down the already muted coat of a golden tiger.

I’ll be real with you, I got into the weeds on this one. I’m pretty sure I have the correct explanation for snow white tigers. I read a very advanced scientific paper on tiger genetics that was definitely too complex for me, so I might have misunderstood something. So, if any tiger geneticists are reading and are cross with me for getting it wrong, I can only apologise, I did my best. (P.S. email and explain it to me.) 

 

 

Black Tigers

Finally, we have Pseudo-melanistic or black tigers. Pseudo-melanism is to actual melanism what leucism is to albionism. A sentence that has never before been written by a tech company.  

Pseudo-melanism causes an excess of pigment and widens and merges existing dark marks; it does not turn the whole animal black like melanism. Both standard orange tigers and white tigers can have Pseudo-melanism. 

 

 

It’s also worth noting that while all these genetic variants are naturally occurring and would have existed in the wild for millions of years, white and snow white tigers are often the result of unethical and harmful inbreeding aimed at creating “more attention-catching” tigers. While the tiny pocket of black tigers in India is likely due to inbreeding caused by habitat loss. 

4. There Are 9 Subspecies Of Tiger 
 

 

There are currently nine recognised subspecies of tiger, six of which are still extant, though some scientists are putting forward the case that there are in fact only two subspecies. There appears to be a heated scientific debate going on in the tiger genetics world as we speak. 

So, these are the subspecies as they stand. 

 

 

The Bengal Tiger is the only subspecies with more than 1,000 individuals remaining in the wild; the rest number in the hundreds, and the South China Tiger is functionally extinct in the wild, with the few remaining individuals living in captivity. The last confirmed sightings of the Bali, Caspian, and Javan tigers were in the 1930s, 1990s and 1980s, respectively. All three species have been declared extinct. 

5. Tiger’s Stripes Are As Unique As Human Fingerprints
 

 

A tiger’s stripes are as unique and individual as human fingerprints, no two tigers have the same stripe pattern. This allows researchers to track tigers more effectively as every tiger is identifiable from their unique stripes. 

Tigers’ stripes are not just on their fur; their skin is also pigmented the same way. Meaning if you shaved a tiger bald, you would have two things on your hands, striped skin and an extremely cross tiger. 

 

6. Tiger Stats For Stats Nerds

Who doesn’t love the stats around different animals? Everyone wants to know what the biggest, strongest, scariest animal out there is. So let's have a look at tigers. 

 

• Tigers are the largest of the big cats, with Siberian tigers being the largest subspecies of tiger. Though trophy hunting of large tigers has reduced the average size of the species, Siberian tigers weighing north of 300kg and 3 meters in length are still occasionally documented.
   
• Tigers can reach speeds of up to 65km/h and can jump five meters vertically and seven meters horizontally.
   
• Tigers have the 7th highest bite force of any animal; their bite is nearly twice as strong as a great white shark's. A swipe from a tiger is also insanely strong; one “punch” from a tiger can be as much as 10,000 PSI of force. For comparison, professional boxers average around 800 PSI per punch. 
   
• Tigers can mimic the sound of other animals to lure them closer for an ambush. 

 

Basically, a deer could be minding its business when it hears another deer calling out. So it walks over to it only to have its organs vibrated and existential dread flush through its system from the loudest roar you’ve ever heard. At which point a 300 kg three metre long previously invisible tiger appears out of the grass, leaps over the illustratively placed 5.9 metre Chevy Silverado, runs at the deer at the speed of a car and hits with a swipe so powerful that its grandchildren will shatter. 

 

 

My point is that tigers are extremely well-adapted apex predators that have ruled the Eurasian continent for two million years; however, now, thanks to humans, they are on the verge of extinction. 

How You Can Help Tigers Thrive

There are only about 5,000 tigers left in the wild today. This magnificent species is now on the verge of extinction due to human hunting, relentless habitat loss, and deforestation. Every single action counts in ensuring these amazing animals survive the next decade.

Here are a couple of ways you and your club can help support tiger conservation this Christmas:. 

Adopt a Tiger

Adopting a tiger is a simple, impactful way to contribute directly to tiger conservation. You can symbolically "adopt" a tiger through respected organisations like WWF or the International Tiger Project. Your small donation goes directly toward anti-poaching patrols, monitoring efforts, and the restoration of tiger habitats. It's a thoughtful Christmas gift that truly makes a difference in the wild.

Support Ethical Consumption

One of the biggest threats to tiger habitats is the unsustainable production of palm oil, which drives massive deforestation. Approximately 90% of Sumatran Tiger habitat has been destroyed to create palm oil plantations. You can help by consciously avoiding products that contain unsustainably sourced palm oil. Look for products that feature the RSPO certification. 

 

By making small, informed choices at the grocery store, you can directly reduce the demand that threatens tiger homes.

What Member Jungle Does To Help Make A Difference 

When it comes to protecting the environment and supporting endangered species, Member Jungle puts its money where its mouth is. To find out more about what Member Jungle does, read Green Membership Management: Help Your Club, Help The Planet.

To learn more about the animals we help support, check out How Member Jungle Steps Lightly On The Planet: Animal Adoptions.