A legend from Nagaland tells of a sacred origin: the mother of the first Spirit, the first Tiger, and the first Man emerged together from the earth through the den of a Pangolin. Man and Tiger were born as brothers—one in human form, the other bearing noble stripes. One remained at home, while the other chose the wild. One day, their paths crossed again in the forest, leading to a fateful encounter. Man, using wit and a poisoned dart, overcame the Tiger. The Tiger’s body drifted downstream and came to rest among reeds.
The divine being Dingu-Aneni found the Tiger’s bones and recognised that they had come from a human womb. The god sat upon them for ten years. From this act, hundreds of Tigers were born, each a symbol of a shared lineage and sacred balance.
This legend reflects the enduring belief that Man and Tiger are bound by a deep spiritual kinship, both born of the same mother. The idea of the “Tiger in Man” and the “Man in Tiger” echoes across the vast landscapes where Tigers have roamed—reminding us of our ancient bond with this majestic creature.
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Though graceful in appearance, tigers possess extraordinary strength. Their forelimbs and massive paws are remarkably powerful—strong enough to bring down young elephants or rhinos and drag prey weighing over 200 kg (500 lbs.). Tigers move with quiet precision, walking on the fore pads of their feet, which lends their stride a fluid and spring-like quality. Their forelegs are highly flexible and can rotate inward, enabling them to grip and hold onto prey with ease. Their sharp claws remain sheathed until the final, decisive moment of attack—an impressive adaptation that enhances their stealth and efficiency as apex predators.
Explore this big cat on our special tiger safari journeys to Bandhavgarh National Park.
Tigers are renowned for their striking amber eyes, which glow with intensity. Unlike most felines, they possess round pupils, granting them exceptional visual clarity. Their forward-facing eyes provide excellent depth perception, allowing them to judge direction and distance with remarkable precision. Tigers also have colour-sensitive cells, enhancing their visual acuity. Like other cats, they are equipped with a reflective membrane at the back of the eye—known as the tapetum lucidum—which amplifies low light by reflecting it back through the retina. This adaptation gives them superb night vision, operating on the same principle as the reflective “cat’s eyes” used on roads.
Scent plays a crucial role in their territorial behaviour. Tigers monitor each other’s presence through scent-marking, a key strategy in avoiding direct confrontation. To fully interpret the chemical signals within a scent mark, the tiger performs what is known as the flehmen response—curling back the lips and hanging out the tongue, causing the eyes to narrow or close. This posture channels the scent to specialised openings in the upper palate behind the incisors, allowing the tiger to “analyse” the scent. Though it may resemble a grimace to human observers, it is a vital part of the tiger’s sensory toolkit.
Tigers thrive across a wide range of forested habitats—from the mangrove swamps of Bangladesh to the snow-laden coniferous forests of the Russian Far East. Ideal tiger territory includes dense vegetation, abundant prey, minimal human disturbance, and access to pools for drinking and bathing. Tigers living in warmer regions are particularly fond of water and often cool off by lying partially submerged. They are powerful and skilled swimmers. While young tigers are agile enough to climb trees, adults are usually too large and heavy. However, one remarkable account from Siberia tells of an enraged tiger climbing a tree in an attempt to strike a pursuing helicopter—an extraordinary display of the tiger’s strength and determination.
Tigers can kill prey that exceeds their own weight. A tiger can eat over 30 kgs (66lvbs) of meat in a single night, though a large kill me be needed only once or twice a week. In the meantime, snacks such a peacock, crabs turtles, fish, lizards, small birds or even locusts will suffice. Tigers are not exclusively carnivorous and will sometimes eat jungle fruits. Their stomachs often contain earth, and he is probably ingested to aid digestion.
In India, hog deer, chital (spotted deer), barking deer, sambar, nilgai and wild boar are the favorite prey, though tigers will also kill jungle ox and even young elephants and rhino of up to 450 kgs (1000 lbs) in weight. Tigers will seek to porcupines, even though these prickly creatures have a nasty habit of backing into a pursuer in order to drive in their spines. Injuries from porcupines may fester and can even cause the death of a tiger.
Tigers tend to hunt between dusk and dawn. They are less active during the day and may lie satiated in the shade or in a pool near the remains of a kill. Tigers often cover an unfinished meal with soil and leaves and return to it later. Even so, scavengers are quick to take advantage, though they risk annoying the owner of the kill. A tiger was photographed pouncing on a vulture in sheer exasperation and an irritable tiger will even chase away crows.
Sight and sound, rather than scent, are used to locate prey. Tigers are too large and too heavy to run for long distances and therefore must patiently stalk their prey until they are close enough to make a final lunge for the neck. Effective camouflage is essential and in patches of sunshine and shade a motionless tiger is practically invisible. Despite being one of the most feared of the world’s predators, tigers are often unsuccessful in catching their prey. Prey species have acute hearing and many run faster than a tiger. Some have alarm calls that warn all the animals in the vicinity to be wary. If the tiger fails in a hunting attempt it must move to another area or wait until the forest becomes calm again.
It is interesting to compare this technique with those used in more open habitats where there is not enough cover to conceal a stalking predator. In the African Savannahs, for example, cheetahs have developed unsurpassed speed and prides of lions have learnt to hunt cooperatively. The remains of a kill are also more difficult to conceal, and any left uneaten will be quickly finished off by scavengers. Cooperative hunters therefore share the kill amongst themselves, so that nothing is wasted on those animals who are looking for a free lunch. The development of different hunting strategies to suit habitat types is part of a process known as optimization.
Tiger behavior is flexible and the choice of prey, as well as the technique for catching on, will be influenced by how plentiful the prey is and how easily it is caught. Tigers in areas where the vegetation is less dense are more likely to hunt large prey cooperatively and to share their kill. This was the case in Ranthambore National Park during the 1980s. Up to nine tigers were seen lying together in a social group, just like a pride of lions. The tiger was observed sharing their prey not only with their young, but also with other adults. Rather than a strict hierarchy, it seems that the titer that makes the kill always gets the first meal, even if the other tigers present are larger.
