solitary tigers

solitary tigers
18-05-2007

I was just thinking about the comments made in a couple of threads about solitary tigers. I have read in a book about tigers in a National Park where a number of tigers were quite happy to live in close proximity to each other, spending time in each others company, including during the day. The researchers thought that the main reason was that it was a small NP surrounded by farms. This was the tigers response to changed conditions. The interesting thing is that the tigers didn't seemed stressed by it, breeding at a natural rate etc. They thought this might be because most of the tigers were closely related and knew it.

18-05-2007

Yes I read something similar to. And if you read George Schaller's classic work 'The Deer and the Tiger' he describes in fascinating detail how the Tigers he was studying in Kanha NP frequently consorted together, not only a mother and her 4 fullgrown cubs, but the resident male would sometimes join them too... As you know cubs stay as a family group for two or more years before becoming independent, so most tigers in one area are likely to both related and well known to each other.

Ever seen that amazing old bit of film by Jim Corbett(the old colonial tiger hunter and conservator)? It is near a waterfall and there are about EIGHT tigers all sitting around together- including one WHITE one. In one of his books he writes about this "....and so I was able to draw them together to allow me to film them " but he doesn't say WHAt he did- maybe it was a bait?