Tigers live in many different areas throughout Asia, and each ecosystem they thrive in is bursting with life that helps feed them. With the tiger being the largest of the big cats, and one of the world largest terrestrial carnivores, many would assume they are the sole predator in the territories they roam. They are strong and territorial, this should drive any other competitors out of their hunting grounds. But this is not always true. We can often find them living alongside a number of other predators. How is this possible?
Tigers are nocturnal, meaning they primarily hunt at night. Most predators throughout Asia are something called diurnal, which means they hunt during the day. These animals are not regularly competing for meals, therefore, they don’t often come in contact with each other. This being said, interactions between tigers and other predators aren’t unheard of. Disputes over food and young can pop up, but aren’t as common as some might think thanks to their activity levels.
Here are some of the predators that thrive throughout the continent of Asia!
Note: Yellow is their current range
Red is their historic range
Gray is uncertain
Tigers
Different subspecies of tigers live across Asia in a range of environments. They are commonly found in forest areas, but can occasionally thrive in grassland areas and swamps! Their main source of food is large ungulates, and they hunt at night, using sound and keen eyesight to locate prey!
Brown Bears
The Asian continent is home to the largest population of brown bears in the world! Unlike the North American Brown Bear, or the Grizzly Bear, Eurasian Brown Bears are found primarily in mountainous forests on the east side of Russia and further south. But, like any Brown Bear, their primary diet is vegetation. They’re diurnal animals, so it’s uncommon for them to cross paths with tigers, but it can happen.
Sloth Bears
Sloth Bears, unlike Eurasian Brown Bears, can be found in grasslands along with forested areas. Like any bear they primarily feed on vegetation, but will occasionally hunt down a small mammal. Any bear will try to defend what’s there’s, but black bears tend to be considered less defensive than brown bears. This does not apply to sloth bears. They can pack a powerful punch defending food and their cubs. Of all the animals on this list, tigers and sloth bears tend to get into the most spats, what with their differences in attitude when faced with a possible threat. Also, sloth bears have been studied changing their sleep pattern depending on environmental factors like human activity or habitat loss. This means sloth bears can be diurnal, nocturnal, and cerpuscular.
Dholes
Despite their size, dholes are formidable predators, especially when hunting in packs. They can survive in forests, shrublands, and grasslands, so it’s not uncommon to see them sharing the same territory as tigers. They also hunt the same prey as tigers, tending to go for large ungulates, but when those aren’t available, they’ll hunt smaller prey. They’re well known for being diurnal, tending to hunt in the early morning.
Leopards
The tigers top competitor, the leopard, patrols similar areas to tigers, and hunts the same prey. The biggest difference between them is the size of the tiger, which is surely what motivates leopards to fly under the radar when moving through tiger territory. Depending on where some leopards live, they have been witnessed changing their hunting patterns to avoid conflict with humans, other leopards, and tigers.
There are many other predators that tigers live alongside – crocodiles, Asiatic wild dogs, wolves, foxes, even Asiatic lions in a very small section. But they have adapted to work around each other, and survive in whatever ways they need to. Interactions between animals that share the same territory can happen, but they often try to avoid encounters that could mean injury to either party!