What Are Some Social Needs of a Tiger?

A solitary animal, the tiger maintains contact with its own kind predominately through scent marking with urine, clawing the ground to leave definable marks, scattering feces strategically and loud roaring vocalizations. Breeding tigers dominate a territorial range with transient tigers wandering and passing through as needed or to challenge for coveted ground. Tigers associate with their own species in order to breed or fight and then go their separate ways.

  1. Female and Male Range

    • A breeding female dominates her range. Within her range is the highest density of game and the prime locations. The ranges of breeding females may amicably overlap each other, but the females continue to maintain a physical distance of 1 to 3 miles apart, according to Seaworld. The breeding female dictates the breeding that takes place within her range. A strong male's range will cover two to three female ranges. Within his range he will intermittently breed with the females.

    Range Dominance

    • The male must guard his range and his females from transient males. The breeding female must also guard her range from other younger females that will seek to overthrow her to dominate the most abundant prey area. Transient males and females are young tigers who have not grown big enough to overtake their own range through fighting. As a young tiger grows stronger it will fight with a dominant breeding male or female to conquer the range. The fights are savage and often result in the death of one of the tigers. Once the young tiger wins its own range, it will begin to breed.

    Breeding

    • The male and female tiger come together only to breed. During courtship they may share social activities such as grooming, hunting and sharing a kill. Breeding takes place in the spring over the course of three to seven days. The male usually remains with the female for several days after breeding has ended before he goes on his way. The female tiger's gestation takes approximately 15 weeks.

    Dispersal

    • The female tiger gives birth to two to six cubs. They will suckle for approximately six months before learning to hunt. Young tigers remain with their mother for 1 1/2 to 2 years before leaving to seek out their own territory. Young females are often given a portion of their mother's range or an adjacent section of land as a territory, but the males disperse widely to fight and search for their own range as they grow and become more powerful.