Tigers
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
8correct to beat the crowd
98 free Tigers trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free Tigers trivia questions with answers. Tigers are the largest wild cats on Earth, yet fewer than 5,500 remain in the wild. From the mighty Siberian tiger prowling Russian forests to the elusive Sumatran tiger hiding in tropical jungles, these iconic striped predators have captivated human imagination for millennia. How much do you really know about their biology, behavior, and fight for survival? Take this quiz to find out.
30 of 98 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which of these populations is often considered the largest of all tigers?
Siberian tiger
The Siberian (Amur) tiger is traditionally ranked the largest tiger, males stretching about 3 m including the tail. Today's wild Siberian males, averaging around 176 kg, are actually lighter than Bengal males.
Q 02Into how many subspecies is the tiger traditionally classified?
9
Most of those historic divisions rested on fur length, colouring and body size, traits that vary widely inside a single population.
Q 03In 2022, what was the estimated worldwide wild tiger population?
3,700-5,600
The IUCN's 2022 assessment estimated 3,726 to 5,578 wild tigers, roughly 3,700-5,600, with India holding more than half; a century earlier the species numbered around 100,000.
Q 04Which country is home to the majority of the world's wild tigers?
India
India holds about three-quarters of the world's wild tigers, spread across more than fifty tiger reserves from Corbett in the north to Periyar in the south, far ahead of Russia, Indonesia or China.
Q 05What distinctive feature do tigers have that is unique to each individual, similar to human fingerprints?
Stripe pattern
Each tiger's stripe pattern is unique, so researchers identify individuals from camera-trap photos of their flanks; the stripes also break up the tiger's outline in tall grass.
Q 06Unlike most cats, tigers are known to genuinely enjoy doing what?
Swimming
Tigers cross rivers up to 8 km wide and will sit submerged to cool off on hot days.
Q 07Shave a tiger and what would you still see on its skin?
Its stripes
A tiger's stripes are visible on its skin as well as its fur, because the pigment pattern lies in the skin and hair follicles, not only in the coat.
Q 08Which island is the only wild home of the smallest surviving tiger subspecies?
Sumatra
The Sumatran tiger, the smallest living tiger, survives only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, in dense tropical forest and fragmented reserves such as Kerinci Seblat.
Q 09What face does a tiger pull in the flehmen response to another tiger's scent mark?
A curled-lip grimace
Both sexes do it, drawing the scent over sensory tissue in the roof of the mouth to read who passed by.
Q 10How far can a tiger's roar be heard?
Up to 2 miles
A tiger's roar carries up to 2 miles (about 3 km), a low-frequency call that signals other tigers across dense forest; a mother also roars to call in her cubs.
Q 11Which tiger population, from a small Indonesian island, has been extinct since the 1950s?
Bali tiger
The Bali tiger, smallest of all tigers, lived only on Bali; the last confirmed animal was shot in 1937 and the population, finished off by hunting and habitat loss, was declared extinct in the 1950s.
Q 12What is the primary hunting strategy that tigers use to catch prey?
Ambush and stalk
Tigers stalk and ambush: a tiger creeps toward prey with its head lowered, using every scrap of cover to get close, then relies on one explosive rush rather than sustained speed.
Q 13Estimates of tiger hunting success run from a low of 5% up to what high?
50%
Q 21At what age do tiger cubs typically become independent of their mother?
18 to 24 months
Cubs stay with their mother for 18 to 24 months, learning to hunt alongside her; young males then disperse to find their own territories, while daughters often settle beside hers.
Q 22The tiger-haunted Sundarbans is the world's largest example of what?
Mangrove forest
The Sundarbans, spanning the Ganges delta in Bangladesh and India, is the world's largest mangrove forest; its tigers swim between islands and hunt along the tidal channels.
Q 23Which famous author wrote 'The Tyger,' a poem beginning with 'Tyger Tyger, burning bright'?
William Blake
Estimates of tiger hunting success range from about 5% up to 50%, swinging with cover and prey density; a tiger typically needs one large kill roughly every week.
Q 14How long does a tigress carry her cubs?
About 3 months
Tiger gestation lasts about 3 to 3.5 months (roughly 93 to 112 days); newborns weigh barely a kilogram and are blind and helpless for their first weeks.
Q 15What is the name of the rare genetic variation that produces tigers with white fur and dark stripes?
Leucism
The white coat comes from a lack of the red and yellow pheomelanin pigments, so the dark stripes remain.
Q 16The 2020 Netflix true-crime series "Tiger King" followed which convicted former zookeeper?
Joe Exotic
Tiger King centred on Joe Exotic (Joseph Maldonado-Passage), the Oklahoma zoo owner sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years for a murder-for-hire plot against Carole Baskin and wildlife offences.
Q 17In Hindu mythology, which goddess is depicted riding a tiger?
Durga
Durga, the warrior goddess, is depicted riding a tiger (or in some traditions a lion) as she slays the buffalo demon Mahishasura; the mount symbolises her mastery over wild power.
Q 18What is the top running speed a tiger can reach in short bursts?
About 35 mph
A tiger sprints at roughly 35 mph (about 50 to 65 km/h) over short distances; it is a burst, not a pursuit, and the chase is abandoned once prey pulls away.
Q 19Which cereal brand features a cartoon tiger as its mascot?
Frosted Flakes
Tony the Tiger has been the mascot of Frosted Flakes (known as Frosties in some countries) since 1952, famous for his catchphrase 'They're Gr-r-reat!'
Q 20What are tiger cubs' eyes like when they are first born?
Closed and blind
Cubs are altricial: born helpless at well under two kilograms, and fully weaned only at around six months.
William Blake published 'The Tyger' in Songs of Experience (1794), a companion to 'The Lamb' from Songs of Innocence; it is among the most anthologised poems in English.
Q 24What is the scientific name of the tiger?
Panthera tigris
The tiger is Panthera tigris; the genus Panthera also holds the lion (P. leo), leopard (P. pardus), jaguar (P. onca) and snow leopard, and the name was coined by Oken in 1816.
Q 25Which big cat is most closely related to the tiger genetically?
Snow leopard
Genetic studies, including the 2013 tiger genome, make the snow leopard the tiger's sister species; the two split roughly 3 million years ago, well after diverging from lion, leopard and jaguar.
Q 26What is a 'liger'?
A male lion's cub with a tigress
A male lion's cub with a tigress grows into the largest of all known living cats, and ligers inherit a tiger's fondness for swimming.
Q 27Which of these cats is named after a river in Russia's Far East?
Amur tiger
The Amur tiger is named for the Amur River, which forms much of the border between Russia's Far East and China across the cat's range; Siberian tiger is the older name.
Q 28What is 'Project Tiger,' launched in 1973?
An Indian conservation scheme
Project Tiger is an Indian government conservation scheme launched in April 1973 under Indira Gandhi, creating a national network of tiger reserves whose core zones are closed to people and managed for the cat.
Q 29How do tigers typically kill large prey?
A suffocating bite to the throat
Tigers kill large prey with a suffocating throat bite, holding on until the animal stops struggling, which keeps the cat clear of horns, antlers and hooves; small prey get a bite to the nape instead.
Q 30The heaviest wild Bengal tiger on record, killed in 1967, weighed roughly how much?
389 kg
The Bengal tiger shot in northern India in 1967 weighed 388.7 kg, about 389 kg, and measured 338 cm over the curves; it had just eaten a buffalo calf, inflating the figure.