In the wild, the Sumatran tiger is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They are the smallest subspecies of tiger. About 400 to 500 wild Sumatran tigers are believed to exist, primarily in the tropical forests and marshland areas of the island’s five national parks. Another 235 Sumatran tigers live in zoos around the world.

The Sumatran tiger has the darkest coat of all tigers, with broad, black stripes that are closely spaced and often doubled. Unlike the Siberian tiger, it has striped forelegs. The striped pattern of their fur makes them almost invisible in tall grass or in the darkness of the forest. The backs of their ears are black with a large white dot in the center of each. Seen from behind, they appear to have two white eyes.

Unlike lions, adult tigers are solitary animals. They spend much of their day in the sun relaxing and sleeping. At dusk they set out in search of food. When a tiger spots its prey, it halts immediately and then remains motionless — its tawny, black stripped fur blending in with the scenery. Keeping its eyes focused on the prey, a tiger will slowly lie down and watch patiently for half an hour or more. When the time is right, the tiger silently stalks toward its prey and then bursts forward from undercover to attack. Even though tigers may stalk and charge ten to fifteen animals in one night’s hunt, most attempts are failures.

Text © 1996 Dianne Harrah, Drawing © 1996 Bill Harrah.

Sumatran Tiger
#LE-TGR-500
Limited Edition Print
Issue Date: 03/2002
Edition Size: 500
Image: 6.5” x 8.25”
Paper: 8.5” x 11”
Mat: 11” x 14”
$35.
View matted print

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Drawings Copyright © 1992-2013 Bill Harrah, Wolf Run Studio (SM), All Rights Reserved. Wolf Run Studio is a service mark of Bill Harrah and has been in continuous use since 1992. All of the images on this website are in tangible form and are fully copyrighted. Each has an invisible digital identification which is traceable through the Digimarc Corporation. Viewers of the Wolf Run Studio website are allowed to browse and print out images for personal, non-commercial use only. You may not distribute copies of images or image files to anyone else for any reason. Images may not be reproduced or used in any form or any manner, or displayed on any website without the express written consent of Bill Harrah.

Text Copyright © 1992-2013 Terry White or Dianne Harrah. Text on this website is used with permission from the authors. Viewers of the Wolf Run Studio website are allowed to browse and print out text for personal, non-commercial use only. Text may not be reproduced or used in any form or any manner without the express written consent of the authors.

Information Accuracy
The information for the written description of each animal has been carefully researched by the authors and is believed to be accurate. New scientific observations, however, could make some information out-of-date. If you are a professional zoologist, and have new information that you are willing to share, please contact Dianne Harrah .