The Tiger as a Predator

The tiger's hunting tactics are based on out-thinking the opponent with intellegence and cunning. The final blow is ofcourse delivered with unadultrated brute force. The tiger is faced with a problem of prey with extremely acute senses of smell and also pretty sharp senses of hearing and sight. To counter these assets of it's targets, it relies on its prowess at stalking as a lethal weapon. It counters the powerful sense of smell of the would be victim by always approaching from the direction the wind is blowing to. Never from the direction which the wind is blowing from. It counters the hearing powers by making sure each carefully taken step is soundless. The soft pads under it's paws ensure this happens. It checks each spot for noisy twigs before it places a foot there, actually brushing them aside if it finds any. To counter sharp eyesight, It uses every possible source of cover to get it as close to the prey before charging it.

Tigers are good swimmers and have been seeing using this ability for hunting

It's striped pattern helps break up it's outline and it uses this camouflage by freezing instantly whenever the target looks its way. The movements are extremely calculated and precise. There is no sudden movement until the final burst, once it is sure to be within striking distance. Yet, some experts say a tiger's kill success rate is as low as one out of ten attempts. Once it pounces on its prey, the tiger either kills it by snapping the spinal column at the neck as the animal is falling or by suffocating the victim by driving its sharp and long canines into the trachea. The tiger is also well equipped with sharp and retractable claws. These are mostly used for injuring, holding or cutting another animal but the power behind a tiger's slash is enough to kill too. Although the tiger prefers larger prey, it is not uncommon for it to kill small animals like monkeys, specially a mother with cubs.

Tigers are excellent swimmers and have been seen using this ability to help them in hunting. This is specially true in the mangrove swamps of the Sunderban National Park. This lack of fearing water was also time and again demonstrated by some ingenious tigers in Ranthambore National Park who became famous as the "Lake Tigers". The most famous of the lot, named "Chenghis", has been documented swimming out and wrestling kills out of the mouths of large marsh crocodiles. Unfortunately, this technique, although copied by some other tigers of the same era in the late 1980s, did not carry on down the line. The crocs can now eat in peace!