There are several different types, or subspecies, of tigers, and their names reflect where they live geographically. Today, tiger subspecies include the Indian or Bengal, Indo-Chinese, South Chinese, Sumatran, and Siberian tigers. Tigers occupy habitats as diverse as the coniferous, mixed deciduous forests of the Russian Far East to the tropical rainforests, grasslands, and marshes of India and Indonesia. In the past, they were also found around the Caspian Sea in Turkey and Iran and on the islands of Bali and Java in Indonesia. Tigers belong to the cat family, and are the biggest of the big cats, a group which includes lions, jaguars and leopards.
Siberian tigers are the largest of all of the tiger subspecies.
Their size and extra thick, long coat help them survive temperatures as low as -49 degrees Fahrenheit. Siberian tigers coats are more yellow than their tropical relatives, which are brighter in color with shorter and thinner hair. Although there is some variation in size among the subspecies, males generally measure about 11 feet from their nose to the tip of their tail and weigh about 400 pounds. Females are slightly smaller measuring a little more than 8 feet and weighing about 300 pounds. Males also have ruffs of hair around their cheeks.