How Big Is a Tiger? Tiger Size and Weight by Region

Typical tiger size

Across the species, a tiger has a head and body length of 1.4–2.8 m (4.6–9.2 ft), a tail of 0.6–1.1 m (2–3.6 ft) and a shoulder height of 0.8–1.1 m (2.6–3.6 ft). Males are clearly larger than females, a difference called sexual dimorphism.

Other measurements give a sense of scale. A tiger’s canine teeth are about 6.4–7.6 cm (2.5–3 in) long, the longest of any living cat, and its claws can reach about 10 cm (4 in). The paw print of a large male can be more than 15 cm (6 in) across.

Tiger size by region

These are ranges for wild adults and differ between studies. In central India, 42 adult males measured in one study averaged about 190 kg (420 lb), and in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park seven males captured in the 1970s averaged about 235 kg (518 lb).

Bengal vs Amur: which is bigger?

The Amur, or Siberian, tiger is often called the largest tiger. Historically it may have been: a study of weight records found that Amur males before 1970 averaged about 215 kg (475 lb). Modern wild Amur tigers are lighter, with males averaging about 176 kg (390 lb), probably because of poorer prey in heavily hunted forests. Today, well-fed Bengal males in northern India and Nepal are on average at least as heavy. Amur tigers do have longer, thicker fur, which makes them look bulkier in winter.

The smallest tigers

Island tigers are the smallest, probably as a result of “insular dwarfism”, the tendency of large animals to become smaller on islands with limited food. Sumatran tigers are the smallest living tigers, and the extinct Bali tiger was smaller still. Within India, tigresses of the Sundarbans mangroves are also unusually small, at about 75–80 kg (165–176 lb), probably because prey there is smaller.

The largest tigers ever recorded

Reliable records are rarer than legends. Most famous “giant tigers” were shot by hunters in the 19th and early 20th centuries and measured in different ways: “between the pegs” (a straight line between pegs at nose and tail tip) or “over the curves” (following the body with a tape), which adds several centimeters.

• Two male tigers captured for research in Chitwan in the 1980s weighed more than 270 kg (600 lb) and are among the largest free-ranging tigers reliably weighed.
• A male killed in 1967 in northern India reportedly weighed about 389 kg (857 lb), but it had just eaten a buffalo calf, and the record is not well verified.
• Old hunting reports of tigers over 3.7 m (12 ft) long cannot be checked and probably used generous measurements.

Captive tigers, especially overfed animals in private collections, can become much heavier than wild ones, but their weights do not reflect natural size.

How does a tiger compare with a lion?

On average the big mainland tigers are slightly larger and heavier than lions, and the record tigers outweigh the record lions. A lion’s mane makes it look bigger than it is. For the full comparison of looks, behavior and range, see lion vs tiger, and for how both rank against jaguars, leopards and cougars, see biggest wild cats.

How fast do tigers grow?

Tiger cubs weigh only about 0.8–1.6 kg (1.7–3.5 lb) at birth, about as much as a large bag of sugar. By six months they are the size of a large dog, and by the time they leave their mother at 18–24 months, young males can already weigh well over 100 kg (220 lb). Tigers keep filling out until about four or five years old.

Is bigger always better?

A large body helps a tiger kill big prey such as gaur and buffalo and win fights over territory. But it also needs more food: a big male must make a large kill about once a week. Where prey is scarce, as in the Sundarbans or on Sumatra, smaller tigers are better able to survive.