I can think of two other facilities in Australia alone where tigers live together, although separated at night.
Is that possible for four or five tigers that are not from the same family though (eg. mother and cubs or siblings from the same litter)?
Hi what are the social groupings like when more then one tigers are kept together. I find it interesting that in the wild they live relatively solitary lives, but in captivity they can live what appears to be quiet happily. Sharing the same exhibit.
In captivity - it depends on the individuals within the group and the skill of the animal management person/people. In the "wild" other factors could also come in to play - especially food availability. A well documented situation exists in the Chitwan National Park in Nepal where rangers began feeding "wild" tigers because the tourists were unhappy about not seeing any. The tiger population density around the food stations now approximates some captive group population densities. These are tigers that are free to live a more solitary life if they wish.
The main reason for solidarity in big cats is as Steve said, the availability of food. It is the same reason Orangutans live a primarily solitary life. As Steve said the personality of the cats comes in to it to. Just because lions are seen more often in social groups, does not mean every lion is always going to get on.
Djelita was born on the 26th March 1991 to the good tigeress Kali (Taronga Zoo 1985) and the good tiger Bantal (Berlin Tiger Park 1978) at the San Diego Zoo. Djelita is a first cousin of Wellington Zoo's two litters (born 1996 and 2000). She now lives at the Honolulu Zoo and at 22 she is one of the oldest sumatran tigers in captivity.
