Indian tigers - Behaviour

Behaviour

Do you have a cat as your pet? Observe it (or any other cat in your neighbourhood). There is a lot of similarity between the tiger and your cat. After all, they belong to the same family. So if you want to know how tigers behave - just observe a house cat! Of course, tigers are bigger and live in the wild, but they are a lot like your cat. For instance, they also spend most of the day resting and sometimes sleep up to 18 hours a day. Like all domestic cats, tigers have claws that are retractable (that can be slipped back into the skin). And like all cats, they are meat-eaters. Solitary Beast   Unlike the lion, the tiger prefers to live alone. Each tiger has its very own 'territory' or home area of which it is very protective. It doesn't like other tigers entering its territory. To mark the border of its territory, the tiger scratches on tree trunks with its claws. It also sprays the area with a mixture of 'perfumes' from its special scent glands and urine to scent-mark its territory. Any other tiger that strays into the area recognizes these signs, and knows that it is in someone else's territory, so it is on its guard. Aggression   Tigers walk long distances. When one tiger smells the scent of another, it lowers its tongue and curls up its face. This is something like the face you would make if you smelt something bad and then got angry! An ordinary day in a tiger's life is generally quite peaceful. For most of the day, the tiger rests, sits around, sleeps and cleans itself. This is because the tiger has to save up all its strength for those few minutes when it has to hunt for its food. It roars loudly to warn other tigers. Hunting Techniques   Tigers need a lot of energy to catch their prey. They usually hunt late in the evening. Spotting a deer or a wild boar (its favourite meals), the tiger waits in the shadows of the tall grass as silent as a mouse until the moment is right. And then it suddenly springs upon its unwary prey. Extremely agile for short distances, the tiger can jump up to 30 feet. With fabulous night vision, powerful jaws, super claws, unbelievably strong forearms and the sharpest of sharp teeth, the tiger is a fantastic hunter. Excellent camouflage combined with its excellent stalking techniques, enables the tiger to approach its prey within strike distance without being seen. Camouflage is a technique of using a particular characteristic to melt with the background so that you can hide from both predators and prey species, enabling the animal to attack without being seen. Many animals from small insects to deer use camouflage to hide. (Don't you wish that you could camouflage yourself in the classroom so your teacher would never see you?) As the most active hunting time of the tiger is between dusk and dawn, it greatly depends on its excellent night vision. The tiger can see and hear very well in the dark. This is why it can hunt for its food in the late evening when it is almost dark. The hunting tactic generally entails killing prey species with a single bite - usually at the throat in the case of large animals, or at the back of the neck of smaller prey. Its teeth are well suited for holding prey and tearing off chunks of meat. After a kill, the tiger drags the carcass (yet another example of the tiger's incredible strength) to thick cover, preferably near water to protect it from vultures, scavengers or even other tigers. Tiger Appetite   Tigers are carnivores. They love eating meat! Large deer make up nearly three-quarters of a tiger's diet. They also prey on wild pigs and cattle. As you may have noticed, all these are large-hoofed mammals. This is because a tiger needs nearly 3,000 kg. of meat a year. Sometimes a tiger might go for a young elephant or rhinoceros or decide to stick with tiny creatures like crabs, fish, lizards, crabs and small birds. Tigers that live in Indian forests often try and attack the Indian porcupine, which are powerful animals, weighing as much as 18-20 kg. This is, more often than not, a bad idea! Tigers may suffer serious injuries or even death from the long spines that the porcupine drives into the face or lungs of any who tries to threaten it. When it's really hungry, tigers can eat anywhere between 18 to 32 kg. of meat at one time from a single carcass. Talk about a really huge appetite! Then it will not eat again for several days, sometimes even a whole week. Did you know that the tiger only manages to catch its prey in one out of 10-20 tries? This is because while predators have claws, teeth and jaws for hunting, nature has also gifted the hunted prey with lightning speed, one of the many tactics in their bag for escape! Prey species      Nilgai: The nilgai is herbivorous and feeds on grass, crops and fruits such as ber. It can manage without water for long periods. Sambar: Sambar feed on grasses and are mostly nocturnal. Most deer feed on grasses that are rich in calcium. Gaur: The largest of the world's oxen, it can be nearly thrice the weight of an adult tiger, yet the experienced tiger has been known to prey on it successfully. Mating behaviour   Chemical signals help male tigers to maintain a check on the receptivity of potential mates. Females indicate their periods of heat, and where they are located, by leaving scent markings. These signals are crucial to the social fabric of tigers.