The most numerous traditionally recognized tiger subspecies of the Indian subcontinent is the Bengal tiger.
The Bengal tiger is commonly identified with the population of Panthera tigris tigris found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of southwestern China. It is the national animal of both India and Bangladesh and is one of the world’s largest wild cats. Its striped coat provides camouflage in forests, grasslands, and mangrove habitats such as the Sundarbans.
The Bengal tiger remains endangered despite having more surviving wild individuals than any other tiger population. In 2022, estimates listed roughly 3,167–3,682 tigers in India, 316–355 in Nepal, 131 in Bhutan, and about 125 in Bangladesh. These figures fluctuate as surveys improve and populations change.
Poaching, habitat loss, fragmentation, prey depletion, and conflict with people continue to threaten it. A taxonomic complication is that modern genetic classifications often group mainland Asian tigers under Panthera tigris tigris, while the familiar names Bengal, Siberian, and Indochinese describe regional populations or traditional subspecies.