The social organization of tigers in Royal Chitwan National Park

Based on radio-telemetry of tigers in the lowland forests and grasslands of Chitwan, Nepal, this study described how tigers partition space through a land-tenure system. Resident females held largely exclusive territories sized to support themselves and their cubs, while larger male territories overlapped those of several females, giving males access to mates. Tigers maintained spacing through scent marking, scrapes, and vocalizations rather than constant patrol, allowing a solitary species to avoid costly conflict. The work established the classic model of tiger territoriality, showing how female ranges are structured by prey while male ranges are structured by females. It became a foundational reference for understanding solitary felid social systems and informed conservation by quantifying the area and prey base a breeding tiger population requires.