What Do Tigers Eat In The Wild And Captivity To Survive? - What Do Bengal Tigers Eat?

Many people ask one question, What do tigers eat? Tigers are the largest species of large cats and are entirely carnivorous. When we talk about tiger's diet, their food consists of large animals such as buffaloes, horses, goats, and wild boars. Sometimes tigers can eat termites, but their preference is for big animals, including rhinoceros calves, leopards, elephants, and sometimes certain breeds of bears. In this article, in detail, we will discuss what animals do tigers eat?

Tigers are the most influential members of the cat breed, and they are found in Asian countries, including India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Turkey, and Russia. When hunting, tigers mostly rely on their deep, transparent, and sharp eyes, chasing their prey before killing it. While cattle and humans are not the preferred prey for tigers, older and injured tigers can occasionally prey on humans and cattle because they are relatively easy prey. Now, we will talk about a tiger's diet?

What Do Tigers Eat?

Because tigers are the most powerful of the big cats, they prey on large and small animals, including gaur, barasingha, deer, wild boar, water buffalo, domestic buffalo, and many other animals. Tigers are found mainly in India and hunt freely and regularly there. Sometimes these big cats also hunt crocodiles, leopards, and lazy bears.

As for the Siberian tiger, its diet consists primarily of moose, sika deer, roe deer, python, and Manchurian wapiti. The tigers that live in this area are called Siberian tigers, and if we talk about the tigers that live in Indonesia, these big cats like to eat gray langurs, deer, monkeys, jackals, foxes, rabbits, and fish. Tigers are opportunistic animals and can eat anything.

These large cats are also known to kill and eat rhinos, but this is rare. Tigers prey mainly on cows, goats, donkeys, horses, and dogs, among domestic animals. Hunting at night can sometimes cause severe damage and injury, and after being injured, the tiger's ability to hunt decreases, which means that it will be hungry for a few days.

What Do Tigers Eat In The Wild?

In the wild, tigers prey on various animals, mostly wild boar, water buffalo, sambar deer, monkeys, rabbits, foxes, and rhinos. Tigers attack domestic cattle and sometimes prey on humans when they get old and injured.

The tigers' diet consists of various animals. But their favorite prey and food is a variety of deer and wild boar. The availability of prey depends on the specific area where the tiger lives.

Under normal circumstances, tigers do not kill or eat people. They are midnight, deep forest predators. They are creatures that are usually reluctant to come in front of a human being and keep themselves away from engaging in fights.

What Do Tigers Eat In The Captivity?

In captivity, tigers are mostly fed beef. However, this is not always the case. Some parts of the Middle East eat donkey and camel meat. If we talk about Indonesia, they are mainly provided with imported kangaroo meat.

What Do Tigers Eat In The Rainforest?

Most of the tigers' food in the rainforest consists of deer, monkeys, pigs, and birds, and they occasionally prey on elephant calves. On infrequent occasions, they do not hesitate to attack humans. Their stripes help hide and close to the prey to hunt efficiently.

To regulate their gastrointestinal process, tigers prefer to consume soft grass. Several researchers have used the same rationale to support tigers eating grass.

What Do Tigers Eat In The Zoo?

At the zoo, tigers enjoy food, from termites to elephant calves. However, an essential component of their zoo diet is large-bodied animals weighing up to 20 kilograms, such as deer, goats, horses, pigs, cows, and buffaloes.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Do Bengal Tigers Eat?

Bengal tigers are completely meat-eaters and like to hunt primarily large animals, including the following animals and creatures.

• Water Buffalo
• Nilgai
• Barasingha
• Grey Langur
• Sambar
• Indian muntjac
• Wild boar
• Serow
• Hog Deer

In addition, many small animals are part of their diet.

2. What Do White Tigers Eat?

Mostly, white tigers live in captivity. White tigers are famous for their white color and are the center of people's attention. These big cats mostly hunt at night, like to be alone, and hunt their prey alone. White tiger's favorite food includes pigs, wild deer, rabbits, birds, and fish. These large cats can eat 15 to 20 kilograms of food.

3. What Do Sunda Tigers Eat?

For the most part, Sumatran tigers like to eat large ungulates, including a variety of animals, including tappers, wild boar, and deer, and smaller animals, such as monkeys, birds, and fish. They can sometimes decide to hunt orangutans, but they do so occasionally because these animals spend very little time on the ground, so they are rarely hunted.

4. What Do Siberian Tigers Eat?

Siberian tigers eat deer, wild boar, lynx, and bears. Half of their diet consists of wild boar. When there is a shortage of large prey in their area, they prefer to eat small animals, including fish, rabbits, and rats.

5. What Do Sumatran Tigers Eat?

Like all other tigers, the Sumatran tigers are carnivores. They can prey on animals of almost any size. Their prey includes fish, monkeys, wild boars, tapir, and deer. They hunt primarily at night and usually try to hunt 12 times a week.

6. What Do Snow Tigers Eat?

Snow tigers are high-breed hunters. They prey on forest-dwelling herbivores and mammals, including wild boar, cattle, goats, and deer. They can eat 18 to 20 kg of meat and do not hunt for a few days after eating so much food. They ambush their prey and attack them with great speed and cunning.

7. What Do Malayan Tigers Eat?

The Malayan tiger is a purely predatory animal whose diet consists mainly of sambar deer and wild boar. Most of these tigers target their prey, but sometimes due to a shortage of large animals, they prey on small animals, including monkeys, birds, and reptiles.

8. What Do Amur Tigers Eat?

Amur Tigers are large cats who are not afraid to hunt large animals. He is also known as the Siberian Tigers. The favorite food of Amur Tigers includes Manchurian sika deer, Siberian musk deer,  long-tailed gorilla, wild boar, deer, buffalo, Alex, and Siberian roe deer.

9. What Do Baby Tigers Eat?

In the early days, baby tigers suckle and feed on their mother's milk but move on to solid foods as they age. They can taste the meat when they are six to eight weeks old. But when they are six months old, they start eating meat regularly and stop drinking milk.