Why do tigers have stripes?

Why do tigers have stripes? Good question, tigers have stripes for many reasons. Tigers are descendants from the Asian continent. They have long flexible bodies that stretch to length when running, and extensive reach and grab abilities. Along with many other animals in the cat family, Stripes allow tigers to blend in with its surroundings while hunting. Although tigers are the largest in the cat family and have no enemies except man, camouflage helps. Tigers have developed these stripes millions of years ago through a process called adaption. Tigers are fast, fit, and skilled hurters so many wonder why they would need camouflage.

Tigers live in tall grassy areas with tangled undergrowth. They are one of the most feared in the jungle because of there notorious hunting tactics. Tigers can easily outrun its prey but they choose to lay waiting in the grass for the right moment to kill. Some animals are colorblind to red and green; luckily tigers are neither red nor green, but there color scheme can be hard to spot. “Most scientists believe that wild animals are color blind, or do not see vivid colors” (www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com). To many animals tigers vertical stripes would look like shadows, the stripes make its body shape unknown, making it hard to determine animal or just a figment of the imagination. Tigers can have stripes in combinations of orange, black, brown, tan and white. No tiger in the world has the same pattern of stripes, they are all different. Even though it looks as it is only fur, a tigers stripes is apart of its skin too.

Although tigers have amazing hunting skills and the ability to blend in, its life span is beginning to decrease. The number of tigers in the past century has been cut short in today’s numbers. There is almost 30% less tigers in the world today then there was 10 years ago. Tigers have gone onto the deadly list of becoming extinct, but luckily it is becoming harder to find them because they are being protected. In conclusion, tigers stripes are an addition to its vast hunting abilities, but the big question is will its stripes help it survive today?