Except for a mother and her cubs, tigers live and hunt alone. But that does not mean they are not social. Scent marks and visual signposts, such as scratch marks, allow tigers to track other tigers in the area, and even identify individuals. All tigers can identify passing strangers. After a gestation of 100 to 112 days, two to three blind and helpless cubs are born in a secluded site under very thick cover.
Cubs weigh just over two pounds at birth and nurse until they are six months old.
During the next 18 months, they gradually become independent, and at about two years of age strike out alone to find their own territory. Females may establish a territory adjacent to that of their mother, or even take over part of their mother's territory. Adult females generally produce a litter every two years. Tigers can live to 20 years of age in zoos but only 15 years in the wild. And most wild tigers do not live that long.