THE ANIMAL FILES

Tiger

Panthera tigris

A tiger’s stripes work against a background of broken light.

Tigers inhabit places with different vegetation, prey and levels of human disturbance. Their striped coats help conceal them among vertical patterns of light and shade. Their daily schedules also differ between studied sites, rather than following one fixed rule that every tiger hunts only at night.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Tiger
Image: Seemaleena · Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Coat pattern
Dark stripes vary between individuals[1]
Typical prey
Medium and large hoofed mammals[1]
Activity
Timing differs among studied populations[1]

Stripes in vertical shade

Trees, reeds and tall grasses create alternating strips of light and shade. The tiger’s dark pattern can align with that visual structure, helping conceal the body in vegetation. Stripe layouts also differ among individuals. A pattern can therefore be useful both to the animal as camouflage and to researchers distinguishing photographed tigers.[1]

A schedule shaped by place

Camera-trap and tracking studies in Nepal, India and northeastern China report different peaks of activity. Some tigers are more active at night; other observations peak around dawn or dusk. In northeastern China, tiger activity broadly overlapped that of prey. These are local observations, so they should not be compressed into a universal night-only rule.[1]

Prey with different costs

Deer, wild boar and other medium or large hoofed mammals are major foods. Smaller animals may also be taken opportunistically. Prey abundance and body size influence prey selection. A large animal is not automatically the best meal: it can also be dangerous, and tigers can be injured by large prey.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Do all tigers follow a strictly nocturnal routine?

No. Field studies report different local activity peaks, including dawn and dusk.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Would bright orange against a plain white wall be a fair test of a tiger’s camouflage?

Reveal the explanation

No. Concealment depends on the background; its stripes are associated with vegetation’s broken, often vertical light and shade.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Panthera tigris (adapted and translated; exact revision)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Panthera tigris (identity and game lineage)

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

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