In captivity they may live to 26 years. Scientists estimate that at the turn of the century as many as 100,000 tigers may have roamed the Asian continent. Through millions of years of evolution tigers have adapted to a variety of natural habitats. From their original migration out of East Asia, tigers have since made homes in Siberia, Myanmar , Turkey, and the Indian Subcontinent as well as the Pacific Islands of Java and Bali . They have adapted to live in a variety of wooded areas, from tropical forests to taiga .
Tigers are carnivores , and feed on a wide variety of prey.
They hunt between dusk and dawn. Some of their favorite foods are large mammals such as pigs, deer, antelope, buffalo, and gaur . Tigers rely on having a large natural habitat where they can hunt and roam freely. Unfortunately this natural habitat is shrinking as quickly as the tiger's overall population. Human beings represent one of the main threats to tigers.