The largest living cat species in the world, tigers are renowned for being ferocious predators and are instantly recognizable due to their distinctive orange fur and black stripes. Once widespread across much of Asia, the endangered animals now live in small isolated pockets with only 3,000 to 4,000 still remaining in the wild.
One of the most deadly creatures on Earth, they have sharp claws and teeth, a huge spring and quick cat-like reflexes. Along with their camouflaged coat and muscular body, these characteristics help the powerful carnivores to catch and kill boars and buffalos to deer, antelope, and even elephants.
Thanks to their majestic look and fearsome reputation, the big cats have featured prominently in myths and legends over the millennia. Now, often depicted in films, literature and on flags, tigers are among the most popular and famous megafauna in the world.
Exploring the diet of a tiger…
In the wild, tigers mainly feed on mid to large-sized mammals although they do eat much smaller prey when the opportunity arises. In general, however, they prefer to hunt hefty ungulates that weigh between 60 and 250 kilograms in total with the particular species varying from location to location.
Alongside wild boars and deer, they often eat elk, buffalo and wild cattle with domestic livestock, such as cows, horses, goats and donkeys, sometimes also featuring. In addition, tigers will also catch monkeys, pigs, rabbits and ground-based birds if they can.
If larger animals aren’t available, they have been known to resort to even smaller creatures like crabs, lizards, toads and fish if necessary. Although their diet is almost exclusively meat-based, tigers will occasionally eat plants and fruits so they get some dietary fiber.
On top of taking down large adult bison, tigers also prey on other predators such as leopards, wolves, bears and crocodiles. On occasion, they also eat young, vulnerable elephant and rhino calves with attacks on humans only very rarely taking place.
How Much Do Tigers Eat?
In general, adult tigers weigh between 65 and 300 kilos with males being much larger and heavier than females. While Siberian and Bengal tigers are the biggest, Sumatrans are the smallest with the size of their prey and the amount they eat varying according to their species and sex.
As food isn’t always available, tigers eat when they can, sometimes gorging up to 50 kilograms in one sitting before fasting and not eating for several days. Likewise, they may opportunistically eat a small rabbit or bird while lying in wait for larger prey to appear.
The ferocious apex predators normally consume around 150 kilograms of meat a month, though this depends on how successful they are at hunting.
How Often Do Tigers Eat?
As tigers only make a kill around one out of every 20 attempts, they often go several days at a time without eating. Once they have caught and killed their prey, they then drag it to a safe spot and eat as much as they can consume.
Once full, they then may not hunt or kill again for a couple days, sometimes even returning to the same carcass to feast on the flesh again. While tigers prefer to eat prey that they killed themselves, they will also eat carrion and steal prey from other carnivores in times of scarcity.
Over the course of a year, tigers are thought to kill about one large animal per week although adults do sometimes have to go a couple weeks without eating anything.
What Happens if a Tiger Goes Hungry?
As tigers have such a low kill rate, they often have to go hungry and sometimes resort to predatory behavior or scavenging when necessary. This then leads to them eating smaller and smaller prey or animals that they usually wouldn’t consider under normal circumstances.
Reptiles, for instance, are typically only consumed in times of need, as are berries, grasses and fruits – which are normally overlooked as they provide tigers with almost none of the nutrients they need.
Sick and starving tigers that are particularly desperate may also attack and eat humans if they are around with some even feeding on their young if they have no other chance of survival. They may also attack other dangerous predators, which increases the risk of them getting injured and not being able to hunt.
How Do Tigers Hunt?
As tigers are independent and solitary by nature, they mainly hunt alone, only rarely teaming up as part of a pair or pack. Like most other cats, they stalk, ambush and hunt their prey, relying on their strength, speed and stealth to make kills.
In general, tigers will quietly approach the animal and position themselves perfectly in the foliage while they wait for the right moment to strike their unsuspecting prey. After having inched to within striking distance, the fierce predator usually launches itself at the back or side of its quarry so that they have less time to react and escape.
Once it pounces on its prey, the tiger uses their powerful claws to grab their shoulders, neck or back while their jaw attempts to lock around their throat or nape and quickly kill the creature. They often wait hours on end for the perfect opportunity to arise.
Although tigers can reach speeds of up to 50 to 60 km/h, they will usually abandon the hunt if they have to chase or battle their prey head-on. This is because they quickly tire due to their large size – tigers need to conserve their energy for future hunts as so many are unsuccessful.
When Do Tigers Hunt?
While tigers are mainly diurnal, the long-ranging species is thought to mostly hunt at night or in the evening when the sun is starting to set. Thanks to their camouflaged stripes, they can remain almost undetected in the fading light until it is too late for their prey to get away.
As they possess excellent eyesight and night vision, hunting in the dark doesn’t pose a problem for tigers who rely mainly on their sight and hearing rather than smell to hunt and ambush prey. Having said that, they will of course pounce on an animal at any time if they happen across them by chance.
Another reason that they hunt at night is that most of their prey is nocturnal with tigers resting and grooming themselves during the day. In areas where they might encounter humans, being active at night also helps them avoid potential problems with people.
The best hunting conditions are on cool or cloudy days with cubs learning from their mothers how to stalk, hunt and kill their prey. While females both live and hunt in their own territory, males hunt almost wherever they want, often encroaching on other tigers’ territory.
What Do Tiger Cubs Eat?
As they are born blind, toothless and defenseless, baby cubs rely on their mother’s milk for the first couple of months of their lives. At the age of about eight weeks they start to add small pieces of meat to their diet but continue drinking the rich, fatty milk for another few months yet.
Once they can rip off chunks of meat with their powerful jaws for themselves they no longer need to be weaned and can move onto a solely meat-based diet. This helps them grow in both size and strength.
At the very earliest they start hunting on their own at 11 months with most cubs remaining at their mother’s side up until the age of about two. They then separate ways and establish their own territory nearby with tigers taking roughly five years to reach adulthood and grow to their full size.
What Do Tigers Eat in Captivity?
When kept in zoos and wild sanctuaries, tigers have a drastically different diet and feeding habits from in the wild. This is simply because they can’t hunt for themselves and so rely on zookeepers to provide them with fresh meat and a balanced diet.
Whereas an adult tiger might not eat for several days in the wild, in zoos they are given between three and six kilograms of meat each day. This is considerably less than what they eat normally though as they roam around less and have a much more sedentary lifestyle.
Zoos usually give them huge chunks of ground beef with other slabs of meat and enrichment items, like cow femurs, knucklebones and rabbits also featuring from time to time.
Some zoos also incorporate periodic fasting days into their schedule with tigers in captivity much more likely to suffer from obesity than skinniness.
What Eats a Tiger?
As tigers sit right at the top of the food chain, they have no natural predators in the wild with both humans and habitat loss being the main threats they face.
While no other animals hunt them, tigers can get injured and later on die when hunting and preying on other dangerous predators. They also need to keep an eye out for elephants and buffalo as both may hurt them with their huge size.
Aside from humans hunting them for their body parts and fur, adult tigers have very few predators they need to watch out for. Young cubs however are vulnerable to opportunistic crocodiles, bears and pythons while some adult tigers even kill and eat babies of their own species on rare occasions.