Quick answer
Tigers are solitary carnivores. Their diet is dominated by deer and wild boar, plus other ungulates available in each landscape — from chital and sambar in India to elk and wild pigs in the Russian Far East.
At a glance
| Diet | Carnivore — mainly ungulates |
|---|---|
| Common prey | Deer, wild boar, sometimes buffalo/gaur |
| Hunting | Solitary stalk and ambush |
| Humans as prey | Rare; conflict situations differ |
Prey by region
Bengal tigers take chital, sambar, wild boar, and occasionally larger bovids. Siberian tigers hunt red deer (elk), wild boar, and roe deer. Sumatran tigers take smaller forest ungulates suited to dense habitat.
When wild prey is depleted, tigers may kill livestock — a major driver of human–tiger conflict.
How tigers hunt
Tigers stalk using cover, then rush and seize prey with body weight and forelimbs before a suffocating throat bite on large animals. They may drag carcasses into cover and feed over several days.
Livestock and people
Most tigers avoid people. Attacks on humans are uncommon relative to range overlap but tragic when they occur — often linked to injury, habitat squeeze, or scarce prey. Never feed tigers in the wild.
From stalk to carcass
A tiger may spend long periods moving slowly along trails and water edges, reading scent and sound. The final rush covers a short distance. Large prey is seized and bitten in the throat; smaller prey may be bitten through the nape. Carcasses are dragged into shade to reduce theft by dholes, leopards, or people.
Camera-trap and kill-site studies show that wild pigs and deer dominate many diets, but tigers are opportunistic within their size class. In the Sundarbans, swimming and mangrove hunting add unique challenges. In temperate forests, seasonal prey movements shape tiger paths.
When wild ungulates are overhunted, livestock becomes a dangerous substitute — dangerous for tigers because it brings poison and guns. Prey recovery programmes are therefore central to reducing conflict, not only to feeding tigers in the abstract.
Key takeaways for readers
Use this guide as a starting point grounded in field biology and conservation references, not as a substitute for local expert advice in parks or conflict zones. Numbers such as top speed, lifespan, and population totals are ranges that shift with new surveys, individual variation, and measurement methods. When headlines disagree, prefer primary sources such as IUCN assessments, peer-reviewed ecology papers, and long-term camera-trap programmes.
Related pages on Global Animal Guide expand habitat, diet, and conservation themes for the same species. Cross-linking helps answer engines and readers move from a single fact to a fuller picture — including how human land use shapes whether these animals persist for the next generation. Supporting protected areas, prey recovery, and conflict-reduction programmes has more impact than memorising a single statistic.
If you are planning travel, choose operators that keep wildlife wild: no cub handling, no baiting for photos, and clear contributions to local conservation. Curiosity is welcome; disturbance is not. Accurate natural history should increase respect for distance, habitat, and the people who share landscapes with large carnivores and forest birds alike.
Sources
FAQs
What do tigers eat?
Mainly medium to large hoofed mammals such as deer and wild boar, varying by region.
Do tigers eat every day?
Not always. A large kill can last days; hunting success rates are often low.
Do tigers scavenge?
They primarily hunt but may finish carcasses and occasionally take opportunities from other predators.
Are tigers carnivores?
Yes — obligate carnivores that need meat to meet nutritional needs.