Which is the largest species of big cat?

The tiger is the largest of the cats, with the northern subspecies reaching well over three hundred kilograms in large males. Size tracks climate: the biggest tigers live in cold northern forests, where a large body loses heat more slowly relative to its mass, while tropical island tigers are noticeably smaller. Unlike lions, tigers are solitary. A tiger hunts alone, stalking close through cover and killing with a single ambush rush, so it needs the mass and muscle to bring down large deer or wild pig without help. Its stripes work as disruptive camouflage in the broken light of forest and tall grass, and no two animals carry the same pattern, which researchers use to identify individuals from camera traps. Territories are large and marked by scent and scratches, and males range over ground overlapping several females. All tigers descend from Asian populations; there have never been wild tigers in Africa.

Tigers are strong swimmers and will cross rivers readily, which is unusual among cats.