Tigers are social animals?

[peter]

COOPER

a - Captive big cats

- A few weeks ago there was an attempt at a debate on lions and tigers. A kind of comparison, one could say. As Stealthcat was involved, it ended with a few remarks on the possible outcome of a bout between males of similar size and age. In the wild, I slightly favour stripes. The main reason is more selection at the level of individuals. That and more experience in hunting and coping with stress. In captive animals, and zoos in particular, lions could have the edge. The main reason is that captive lions, usually living in small groups, keep their identity because they can interact with each other. Based on what I saw and heard, the margins would be small. Just an opinion, of course.

One could also conclude that it largely is about the development at the level of individuals and be close. The moment a cat no longer develops, it will collapse in all departments meaning it will become a parody on a lion or a tiger. In zoos in particular, big cats often get bored to death. One result is stereotype behavior.    

- Apart from the exchange with Stealthcat, there was an exchange in the thread 'A Gallery Of Captivity'. It started with a post in which a horse attacked by a lioness and a tiger in a Chinese circus featured. The horse had a scare, but survived. The circus didn't. I posted about the cats I saw in zoos, rescue facilities and circuses and I saw a few. 

To keep it short. Compared to big cats living in zoos and, to a lesser extent, rescue facilities, circus big cats (referring to European circuses only) were very healthy in most departments. The main reason is interaction with other animals and humans. Interaction nearly always results in development in the social skills department. If we add regular activity and bonding of some kind, chances are you will see a lot of healthy cats. 

The ban on exotic animals in circuses in particular resulted in countless unnamed victims and a great loss of knowledge. It will also no doubt result in countless big cats with 'silly walks' soon.

b - Wild big cats

Rumour has it that lions are the only social cats. Not true. Nearly all 'solitary' cats have a social life of some kind. We don't know about it, because of a lack of knowledge.

Remember the information about a tigress with four cubs followed by an enormous male brown bear in Russia? Wolverine posted about it in the tiger extinction thread some months ago. The bear stalked her in order to confiscate her kills. Rangers knew and considered hunting the bear, as there was no need for him to stalk the tigress for so long. Before they acted, tigress 'Rashel' did. They heard her complain. At least, that's what they thought. They had never heard the sound she made before. Within days, a male tiger appeared. In the video Wolverine posted, you can see him and the tigress. He was definitely reassuring her. The bear got wind of the changing tide and decided to move. Could have been a result of the hunting season, but my guess is there were other reasons. 

You no doubt heard about 'National Geographic Wild'. January is big cat month. I saw a number of interesting documentaries. In January, the BBC broadcasted a new series: 'Big Cats'. In the series, a puma biologist featured. He said he lived and breathed pumas. Even dreamt about them. The camera traps revealed something he didn't know: adult female pumas interacting with each other for prolonged periods of time. They even shared kills. Male pumas, often portrayed as cub killers, visited females every now and then. When they approached the kill of a female or a gathering of females, they kept a low profile. Very low, I would add. No aggression whatsoever.  

In another documentary (on pumas), a biologist interested in interaction between wolves and pumas found that the conclusions of others were only true to an extent. In some regions, pumas often are displaced by wolves. For this reason, they move to regions where wolf packs have no business. These regions also have wolves, but smallish groups only. most packs were smallish. In these regions, adult wolves seem to hunt on their own. When they meet pumas near kill sites, they often withdraw. A solitary wolf is no match for a solitary puma and both know. Problem solved.  

Tigers are solitary cats, but they often visit females with cubs. When a female with young cubs is killed, they're the first to know. Not seldom, they take care of the cubs. Some hunters in the past reported about it, but they were not taken serious. Billy Arjan Singh wrote about a tigress he had raised. She had been born in captivity. After some time, she returned to the wild. Impossible, many said. But it happened. As she had no degree in hunting, an old male tiger took care of her. He killed for her and treated her with great respect. After a few years, she graduated and mated with a vigorous young adult male who had been around for quite some time. She had cubs before she was accused of a crime.

A young adult male and a big old male tiger in the same district and both interacting with a young tigress? But adult male tigers are fiercely territorial, are they not? Yes, they most definitely are. This is why so many male tigers perish well before their time. But what about the young adult male and the old boy in northern India then? You tell me. We know a bit, but the life of wild tigers is a mystery. Wild tigers are elusive animals. Every individual is different. 

In order to get to understanding, you need to get close and stay close for many years. And when you think know a few things, you will be proven wrong. Life isn't about models, standardizations and predictions. In mammals, it's individuality all the way. Furthermore, there are conditions. Finally, there is change. 

Male tigers are very territorial, but not when nearly all prey animals leave their ranch as a result of crop failures. A century ago, male Amur tigers often followed wild boars moving north. They had no other option. 

c - To conclude

What I'm saying is we know next to nothing about tigers. Or other big cats. There's always exceptions, like Packer, Miquelle and U. Karanth, but you can't study wild tigers for some time, graduate and say you really know about tigers. Every article I read is interesting, but knowledge, no matter how detailed, about one part of reality can't be extrapolated. A century ago, hunters noticed that the situation in one district was very different from another. Reality is an unknown entity that changes all the time.  

Research is one way to get to knowledge, but there are others. One could decide to talk to locals, one could decide to read books written a long time ago and one could decide to combine different methods to get to knowledge. Knowledge has many faces. 

I read many books written a long time ago. Nearly every book has something of interest. My advice is to select books written by those who lived and breathed tigers. They hunted them, but didn't shoot at everything that moved. Don't go for books written by hunters out for a trophy only. Reply