In the article, we will consider how the tiger hunts, how and when it lies in wait for prey, and study the hunting techniques of this large and dangerous predator. You will learn the details of the life of the king of the jungle, his interesting habits and habits, how much this predator needs to eat fresh meat a day to be healthy, and how lucky this hunter really is.
About animal
The tiger is a large predatory animal that lives in the Far East and Southeast Asia. This mammal belongs to the cat family, so even the methods of hunting with a tiger remind many domestic cats. Its wool has a striped color, which is a wonderful camouflage in the habitat and makes the tiger invisible to its prey, until the predator creeps close.
To understand how a tiger hunts, you need to remember who its prey is, what a large cat eats. In the jungle, tigers look for ungulates: red deer or sika deer, roe deer or musk deer, but they will not refuse a wild boar, tapir or even a buffalo. If large prey cannot be tracked, the predator will not refuse monkeys, hares, crocodiles, and even fish.
Night predator
The tiger is considered a night hunter, so it goes after prey at dusk or at the beginning of the night. This is a solitary animal, therefore, acts independently. Only a tigress takes with her grown up tiger cubs for the purpose of learning skill, because they are not born a good hunter, but become a result of hard work.
The predator has excellent night vision and good hearing, which helps him in search of prey, and soft pads on his feet allow you to sneak up on the victim imperceptibly at a jump distance that can reach 5-6 meters in an adult male.
Hunting Methods
Tigers hunt at night in two ways. Firstly, they creep up to the victim from the leeward side and knock her off her feet, and then strangle them with fangs around her neck. However, the ungulates, which make up the main diet of the tiger, also do not sleep and try to escape, developing an unprecedented speed. The tiger may pursue prey for some time, however, realizing the futility of the attempt, it leaves the animal alone and moves on in search of a new victim.
The second method of hunting the beast is often used by him in the summer. The tiger may lie in wait for several days in anticipation of animals that have come to the watering place. He creeps very carefully, moving in dashes and crawling. He tries to crawl to the distance of one jump and quickly rushes to the prey, pressing it to the ground.
Efforts and Opportunities
It may seem to readers that a tiger does not cost anything to catch any animal, but this is not so at all. You already understood how a tiger hunts, but it does not always remain full. It is noticed that this predator has to make up to 20 unsuccessful jerks for prey, while he finally gets his livelihood. The tiger in pursuit is capable of jerking only at a distance of no more than 150 meters, while developing a speed of up to 60 km / h. Then he backs off and seeks another livelihood.
There were cases when a tiger, remaining hungry, “asked” for lunch to tigresses who do not drive the males, but voluntarily share the meat. Tigers also feed tigers and their babies, but not other males.
