Is the tiger a solitary animal?
Yes, 'tiger society, like that of most felids [cats], is characterized by individuals living and hunting by themselves' so writes Fiona Sunquist in Wild Cats of the World by Mel and Fiona Sunquist. So, tigers are essentially solitary animals. This is the definitive book on the wild cats by the way (buy it!). Tigers encounter each other from time to time when travelling along their trails and when patrolling their home ranges. They also meet for mating and occasionally they share a killed prey animal. Tigers are solitary and come together for mating. Image in the public domain. But the only exception to the solitary life of the tiger is the mother caring for her young cubs. Tigers hunt alone but there is a social system between these individuals which is maintained with various signals such as scrapings (visual signals), scent marks deposited by spraying urine and long-range calls (vocalisations). These calls serve two purposes: to bring tigers together (for mating) and to keep...