Tigers are opportunistic feeders and at an average, a tiger kills an animal a week. Depending upon its size, the kill may last a single meal, if it’s a small animal like an average Rhesus Macaque, or it may last 3-4 days, if the animal killed is as large as a full grown Sambar Deer. When the kill cannot be eaten in a single sitting, tigers hide it in thick understory and cover the carcass with leaf litter to save it from scavengers like vultures.
A few days ago, a Sambar Deer was killed by a family of tigers and hidden in thick undergrowth on the edge of a forest stream. The mother and her cubs were seen over next two days, returning back to the kill and on one such occasion, this footage of a sub adult male tiger approaching the spot where the kill was hidden was obtained by our Chief Naturalist Manoj Sharma.
A tiger approaching its kill
