How Tiger Hunts its Prey?

If anything makes the Tiger a unique animal, it is its skill as a hunter. Everyone knows the great strength, as well as the cunning, that this predator can display. But do you know how it tracks its prey?

The most potent animals all have a very different way of hunting. And while it may seem like an easy thing to do given their abilities, the reality is far less apparent. The tracking of the game is a complex science, which only a few species such as the Tiger have mastered completely.

By the end of this article, you will know:

• The stages of Tiger hunting
• The subtleties that make the Big Cat a super predator
• The typical course of its day

Finally, after reading this article, you will know if the Striped Big Cat is indeed the most dangerous and fearsome hunter living on our planet.

Let's get straight to the heart of the matter: the Tiger and the hunt.

The stages of the hunt

1) The search for its future prey

 Unfortunately for the tiger, its future prey does not throw itself into its mouth; on the contrary, it flees the tiger like the plague. The tiger has to go on long or short walks searching for an animal to its liking to feed on.

Its search is well organized, because it watches the water points it knows first. The herbivores living in its territory will sooner or later be forced to go there to quench their thirst.

Once the tiger spots its next meal, the second step can begin.

2) The silent approach

 Contrary to what one might think, the Tiger is not an excellent runner. Although it can reach speeds of 60 km/h, it cannot maintain this speed over long distances. This lack of stamina forces it to adopt a particular strategy: the silent approach.

The tiger approaches its prey slowly but surely, helped by its striped coat and by the soft pads of its paws. Its ability to be a formidable hunter depends mainly on its power of concealment within the environment that surrounds it.

If it gets close enough without being spotted, it can finally move on to the third step and attack.

3) A fast and devastating leap

 As soon as it gets close enough to its prey, the Tiger pounces on it when it is most vulnerable. The unlucky animal sees more than 200 kilos of muscle and sinew land on it, so its chances of survival are slim.

Moreover, the Tiger will always aim at the neck or the nape of the neck to leave it no chance. It takes only a few seconds to kill its victim, but sometimes several hours to find and approach it. As we said before, the big cat lacks stamina in combat, which explains why its attacks are so lightning fast.

But as the saying goes, after the effort comes the reward.

4) The ultimate reward

 Here, at last, is the reward the Tiger has been waiting for: it now stands over the carcass of its prey. But it does not eat it on the spot; it takes the body to a safe place so that it can enjoy it in peace.

Interestingly, even while it eats, the Tiger stays on the lookout for the slightest sound. That's why it avoids making noise when it chews or drinks.

It would be a mistake to think of the Tiger as a glutton: besides eating quietly, it often spreads its meal over several days. It can ingest up to 30kg of meat in one go, so a catch weighing 100kg will be consumed in 2-3 days. In between, it hides the carcass as best it can under foliage sheltered from the sun.

However, this hunting method is far from infallible, as we will now see.

The limits of this hunting method

 If you have followed the previous section carefully, you may think that the Tiger rarely fails in the hunt. Well, think again, because only one attack out of 10 is successful. There are two main reasons for the repeated failures of the striped big cat.

First of all, animals living in trees and birds are a real handicap for the Tiger. Why, you may ask?

Because they constantly give away its position with their alarm calls. It becomes very hard for the tiger to stay hidden from herbivores and from the animals up in the trees, especially as it struggles to see them. It is as if the whole jungle were allied against the Tiger to hold its great strength in check.

But this is not the only reason for its low success rate.

The second weakness of the big cat is, of course, the fact that it gets exhausted very quickly. Therefore, even if it has managed to approach its prey without being spotted, it is not certain to succeed. If it cannot bite it in the neck, it will take a lot of energy to kill it. So, even if they have fallen into the clutches of the Tiger, the herbivores still have a chance to survive.

Hunting is not that easy for this predator. Fortunately for it, it has qualities that allow it to make up for these two disadvantages.

How the striped big cat hunts

1) The Tiger: a Night Hunter

 Of all the elements that make the Tiger a unique hunter, night stalking is undoubtedly one of the most important. Like the Lion, which usually hunts at night, particularly at dusk and dawn, the tiger is very much at ease in the dark. The darkness of the night allows it to sneak through the foliage with even more skill.

This particularity explains why so few pictures of Tiger hunting exist on the net. However, although it prefers to hunt at night, if a prey presents itself on its way, it will not hesitate to attack it in broad daylight.

The tiger has become a true night hunter for the sake of efficiency, because it is much harder for other animals to spot the Tiger with only the white glow of the moon as a source of light. The tiger, for its part, has excellent night vision thanks to its retina, which needs only a weak light source to give it a clear and precise view.

You can also admire the hunting Tiger up close with this exotic painting, one of the wild scenes in our tiger canvas collection.

 2) A predator from a young age

In your opinion, what is the best way to become an expert in your field? Training, of course.

From a very young age, the Tiger is prepared to become an outstanding predator. And the one behind this superiority is, of course, its mother. She starts teaching him all his hunting skills at the age of 1. She will continue to teach him until he reaches the age of 3, after which he will leave the family home. Our guide to the tiger cub follows these early years step by step.

But how does she pass on her knowledge to him?

First of all, she instills in him a taste for fresh meat only a few months after his birth. To do this, she gradually makes him lick, chew, then eat the flesh of animals she has hunted beforehand.

Once the cub reaches about a year old, it follows its mother on the hunt. At this time, he will develop his hunting skills, as nothing is more rewarding than experience in the field. Once he feels ready, he will begin to hunt larger and larger prey on his own, until he can take down large deer.

When not hunting, the Tiger spends his time fighting with his brothers and mother to test his strength. Fights between these little Tigers are often friendly, and even if things get out of hand, the Tigress will always be there to restore order. The lifelike cubs in our tiger plush collection show these young tigers in soft form.

Now that we know why the Tiger is such a fearsome and fearedpredator, it's time to see how its typical day is organized.

The Big Cat's typical day

 The Tiger's day is similar to that of cats, which means that it is interspersed with naps.

The Tiger wakes up from one of his morning naps to see what's going on in his territory. He surveys the boundaries of his habitat, looking for any sign or scent that another Tiger has intruded. Knowing that the range of this animal can extend over more than 1,000 km², you can imagine that it cannot patrol all of it in one go.

This animal will wander in its territory throughout the day while resting regularly on grass. He will also take the opportunity to go to the water sources he knows to refresh himself. If it is hungry and an unlucky animal crosses its path, it will kill it. However, at this time of the day, his priority is not to feed but rather to resist the sun's oppressive heat by hydrating himself.

The afternoon follows the same rhythm as the morning, although the naps are much longer and more critical. The Tiger prefers to move across its land when the sun is not at its zenith, so as not to tire itself out.

Once night falls, a very different side of its personality comes out. The big cat goes into hunting mode, and his only goal is to find prey big enough to fill his appetite. Once his victim is caught and killed, he will eat it gradually over several days.

In this way, the Tiger will roam around the dead animal's carcass to protect it from scavengers and birds. It will not hunt for a few days while it finishes its meal, but the cycle will resume once the meal is completed.

The daily life of the tiger thus follows a precise rhythm that it tries to keep.

The Tiger's diet

1) A carnivore at heart

 The Tiger is a carnivore, which means it feeds solely on meat. Such a predator has no interest in eating plants.

Its digestive system is flexible enough to accommodate any meat, from small rodents to larger mammals. This is rarer, but some observers report that it even feeds on freshwater fish, a habit we look at in whether tigers eat fish.

However, the Tiger's diet can vary between species because the animals that share the habitat of the Siberian Tiger are not the same as those living on the lands of its Bengal cousin.

The big cat is not a fussy eater and takes what it finds on the spot. Therefore, its geographical environment will more or less determine its diet.

2) The Tiger's favorite prey

 Even if the Tiger can eat all types of animals, it prefers some to others. This is the case for deer such as the chital or the sambar. The males can be recognized by the antlers on their heads.

The Tiger likes them so much because they live in herds and therefore offer a wide choice of prey. In addition to that, these animals are mostly very nutritious and "relatively" easy to hunt.

In addition to deer, he also loves to hunt wild boar. These large pigs are equipped with tusks and are found in the woods and forests of India. Their weight can reach 250 kilos, which is as much as a big Tiger. They are therefore harder for it to defeat, but the reward is even greater if it succeeds.

In the end, the Tiger's favorite prey in its natural environment are:

• deer
• wild boars
• elk
• buffalos

It is important to note that the massive deforestation in Asia has dramatically disrupted the eating habits of the Tiger. As a result, the Tiger is more and more forced to attack livestock to survive.

Carry the jungle with you with our camouflage Military Belt and its tiger buckle.

Is the Tiger the most fearsome land animal?

1) More than impressive skills

To know if the Tiger is the most dangerous land mammal, it is essential to summarize its abilities.

To begin with, the Tiger is very skillful in the water, which makes it one of the strongest swimmers in the cat family. It can even take prey by surprise from the water (even if this is rare). The Tiger can also cross rivers and lakes up to 8 km wide, allowing it to change the environment and find new prey.

Moreover, the big cat is equipped with sharp claws, pointed canines, and a powerful jaw. This allows him to hold on to his victims and never let go. Its retractable claws stay sharp, and its bite is one of the most powerful in the animal kingdom.

Finally, its ability to become completely invisible in its environment is quite impressive. As the old saying goes: "If you see the Tiger once, it has already seen you more than 1000 times". Its camouflage and its talent for discretion allow it to be forgotten entirely. Contrary to what people think, its orange color is a real advantage because deer, its main prey, cannot tell orange from green, so to them the tiger looks green.

No one could seriously claim that the Tiger lacks the weapons of a super predator. However, the competition is tough, because other animals are also at the top of the food chain.

2) Other animals compete with it

 Among all the terrestrial predators that inhabit our beautiful planet is an elite group of the most powerful animals. These species are not numerous, but they reign supreme over the wildlife. They do not fear any other beast (except humans) because they are at the top of their food chain.

So who are these ultimate hunters? In this small group, we find:

• The Tiger
• The Lion
• The Polar Bear
• The Wolf

As you can see, the dominance of the Tiger is questioned next to such big wild animals. Even if a lone Wolf has little chance against the Tiger, and no one can say how a lone Lion would fare, they have all their strength from the pack they live in. It becomes hard to know which species dominates the other.

The Polar Bear is a solitary animal as well as the big cat. However, the environments of these two predators are opposites, with on one side the icy cold of the North Pole and on the other the forests of Asia, from tropical India to the snowy taiga of eastern Russia. Once again, these differences make the comparison hazardous and misleading.

From a scientific point of view, it is useless to know which is the ultimate super-predator because it depends on geographical and social factors. Each of the four species mentioned above reigns unopposed in its own environment.

The fact that most of these animals do not live together on the same territory prevents us from determining the most fearsome terrestrial predator. Where tigers and wolves do share land, in the Russian Far East, tigers have been recorded killing wolves.

To summarize

To summarize all that has been said, we could say that the Tiger is an extraordinary hunter both by his physique and by his killing abilities. But to do that would be to hide the fundamental elements that make him a unique predator.

First of all, the stages of his game hunting are simply brilliant. We understand that the Tiger hunts in an orderly way, almost by protocol. Nothing is left to chance for this big cat from the search for prey to the deadly attack.

But it wouldn't be so easy for him if he wasn't naturally endowed with hunting skills. Thanks to his excellent night vision and agility, he perfectly takes advantage of the night to get closer to his future victims without being noticed. This power of discretion is taught to him from a very young age by his mother. The Tiger takes advantage of its natural abilities, such as its camouflage, to constantly improve its stealthy attacks.

The Tiger is, therefore, a formidable predator, but for whom?

We have seen that it has a weakness for herbivores and, in particular, for deer. As it is a carnivore, it feeds exclusively on meat. However, this does not prevent it from having a very flexible diet. So beware if you venture onto the Tiger's land, because you could very well become its next meal.

Finally, other animals compete directly with the Tiger for the position of ultimate super-predator. Among them is the Polar Bear, with its vast size and ability to withstand extreme conditions. But also the Lion and the Wolf, which both get their strength from hunting in packs. These four species are the most gifted land mammals for hunting.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to say whether the Tiger is superior to the other predators. These four animals mostly live in different geographical areas, although tigers and wolves share the forests of the Russian Far East, where tigers compete with wolves and sometimes kill them.

So, even though it may not be number one, the Tiger is still a born killer.

Before you go, share what you have learned with your child using this Tiger Hunting Figure, one of the roaring and prowling tigers in our tiger figurine collection.