Tiger Demographic

[Dr Panthera]

In regards to breeding by transient animals Barlow et al. considered it negligible possibly because:
* Transient females have limited access to prime denning sites and to prey and have more conflict with man.
* Transient males may mate with resident females if the territorial males occupy an area larger than their patrolling ability, in marginal habitat males have to occupy a larger area and transient males can fringe on their territory and mate with receptive females, add to this that the territorial male will still have to feed himself and hunt. In prime habitat the territorial male will chase the transient ones more likely.
Compare this in prime lion habitat where males can devote most of their time to patrolling and protecting their turf and less to acquiring food.
In both species though females do not restrict their reproductive partners to resident animals all the time and factors affecting this rare yet remarkable female behavior are still not fully known yet "attraction" of females to presumably "inferior tranisent/nomadic males" can still be seen. Reply