Pee smells like popcorn: Tiger fun facts for 'Year of the Tiger'

NEW YORK — It’s the Year of the Tiger this 2022!

Considered the largest species from the cat family, tigers are known for their power, fierceness and aggressiveness.

Here are other fun facts about Princess Jasmine's pet of choice:

Tigers attack alone

As shared by Kim Atienza on last Monday’s “24 Oras," tigers are not afraid to attack alone.

“Style kasi talaga ng tigre ang umatake mag-isa kumpara sa leon na mas sanay makipag-laban kapag may kasamang grupo,” he said.

Tigers usually beat lions

While lions are known to be the kings of the jungle, Kuya Kim said tigers are more likely to win against them when in a one-on-one fight. Tigers are also heavier and more violent.

Tigers can eat 25 kilos in one go

A tiger’s stomach is 10 times that of a human being, allowing them to consume 25 kilos of meat in one sitting. 

Every tiger is unique

Another interesting thing about tigers according to Kuya Kim is that their stripes are unique to each one, so there’s no similar stripe pattern. 

Meanwhile, the white spot behind their ears serves as their adaptation to nature. 

“Kapag nakita nila 'yung dalawang dot na ‘yan, akala nila nakatingin sa kanila 'yung tigre kaya parang mata ‘yan sa likod ng kanilang tenga,” he said.

Hear it roar

A tiger’s roar is 114 decibels or as loud as a jet plane. It can be heard from up to two miles away. 

Pee that smells like popcorn

Another trivia? Tiger urine’s smell is similar to that of popcorn.

Meanwhile, here are the different types of tigers: 

"Tigerland" is part of Discovery Inc. and World Wildlife Fund’s Project C.A.T. initiative, a global effort to double the population of tigers living in the wild by 2022.  

Get to know the different types of tigers, their unique features and characteristics:

Bengal

Bengal tigers can be found in warm and wet environments such as grassland, temperate forests, and mangrove forests. They are particularly powerful hunters and are very greedy, consuming up to 40 kilos of meat in one sitting. 

This type of tiger is found primarily in India with smaller populations in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar. It is the most common species of tiger and there are approximately 2,500 left in the wild. In recent years, intense poaching to meet a growing demand from Asia has put the Bengal tiger at risk of extinction.

Siberian

Siberian tigers are adapted to survive cold with their thick long fur, and have to roam large areas of woodland to find food due to low prey densities. They live primarily in eastern Russia's birch forests, though some exist in China and North Korea. There are as few as 540 left in the wild and they have become extinct in Korea. 

Sumatran

These are the smallest surviving tigers in the wild, residing on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. There are fewer than 400 left in the wild, despite increased efforts in tiger conservation. 

This species of tiger can be most easily identified by their particularly thick black stripes on their orange coats. They live in warm, wet climates such as tropical broad-leaf evergreen forests, freshwater swamp forests, and peat swamps.

Malayan

Malayan tigers used to be classified as Indochinese tigers, until DNA testing in 2004 showed them to be a separate subspecies. 

Malayan tigers have shy personalities compared with other tiger species. They prefer to hide in the dense greenery of the tropical moist broad-leaf forests– stalking their prey, before retreating back into seclusion and safety.

Malayan tigers are found only on the Malay Peninsula, or the southern tip of Thailand, and there are as few as 250 left in the wild.

South China

The South China tiger is considered to be “functionally extinct,” as it has sadly not been sighted in the wild for more than 25 years. Once peaking at a population of over 4,000, the South China tiger spanned the region from Hunan and Jiangxi in the north, all the way to Hong Kong. 

This type of tiger however became too dominant, and thousands were culled as part of pest control measures. The government of China banned hunting in the late '70s and has since declared the goal to reintroduce South China Tigers into the wild again.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) website, tigers are already endangered. Only around 3,900 tigers in the wild remain. Over the last century, tigers have declined about 96% in population with poaching and habitat as the main drivers for extinction. A century ago there were 100,000 tigers roaming the planet. But today, as few as 3,890 tigers remain in the wild.