Is up to 15 years in the wild;  20-25 years in captivity

Wild tigers average a large kill about once per week and in a single night can eat as much as 60 pounds of meat (though the average meal is 33-40 pounds)!  Wild tigers often bury the remains of their prey in an attempt to hide it from scavengers and will then come back to it later for another meal.  Catty Shack tigers eat roughly 10-15 pounds of food five to six nights a week.  Catty Shack Ranch follows the USDA guidelines and feeds according to their body weight. They also follow strict nutrition requirements from their veterinarians and also add vitamins and minerals to all their food.  Their menu is primarily chicken and red meat. Catty Shack only feeds processed meat, never live prey.

Siberian tigers are the largest tigers in the world and can grow to almost 11 feet from nose to tail tip.  Females typically run from 300 to 400 pounds, while males average anywhere from 400 to 600 pounds.  At Catty Shack, the weight of our tigers is strictly monitored to ensure that our residents maintain a healthy weight.

In the wild, female Siberian tiger territories average 200 square miles, while male Siberian territories are proportionately larger. Siberian tigers prefer coniferous, scrub oak, and birch woodlands. Wild tigers have lost approximately 93% of their historic range with a 45% loss in just the past 10 years.  As few as 3200 tigers still exist in the wild and populations are at a growing risk due to human encroachment, habitat loss, and poaching. In captivity there are an estimated 5,000 tigers in the U.S. alone, though only a small portion of that 5,000 exist in zoos or other sanctuaries.

Mating can occur throughout the year and typically lasts for several days before the male and female go their separate ways.  Females deliver cubs after a gestation period of 100-112 days and bear litters of two to six cubs.  The cubs weigh just over two pounds at birth and nurse until they are six months old. Cubs gradually become more and more independent and at about two years of age strike out alone to find their own territory.  Adult females generally produce a litter every two years.  In the wild, roughly 50% of cubs survive to independence; however, only 20% of cubs live to establish their own territories.

Golden Tabbies (also known as Strawberry tigers) are very rare, with only 40-50 remaining in entire world.  The golden color variation is caused by a genetic recessive gene mutation know as erythrism, where all black on the tiger is replaced by orange or brown.  Golden Tabbies tend to be softer with thicker fur than the normal color tiger.  Like white tigers, all Golden Tabbies have a Bengal parentage, though through massive interbreeding through the Bengal and Siberian species, most Goldens, Topaz included, have a lot of Siberian in them.  Though possible in the wild, it is believed that all living Golden Tabbies are in captivity.