Species of the big cat family There are many species in the big cat family. One of these big cats is the Bengal tiger, an endangered species. The Bengal tiger is best known for its white fur, its rarest type, but it is actually not an albino animal due to its pigmented stripes. A tiger's stripes are all different. No two tigers have the same stripe style. The tiger is a rare species that once had eight subspecies to its name. Today, however, the number of subspecies has been reduced to five due to poachers hunting these beloved animals. The other four species of tigers are the South Siberian tiger. Tigers of China, Indochina and Sumataran[1]. All of these subspecies generally have reddish orange fur with predominantly vertical black, brown, and gray stripes. There are rare tigers that actually have white fur and piercing blue eyes. At full maturity, a maltigre typically reaches a weight of five hundred pounds. The female is generally a little lighter and weighs three hundred pounds..