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How Tigers Mark Their Territory in Tadoba

Tadoba National Park is one of the best places in India to see tigers in their natural habitat. When you go for a Tadoba safari inside the park, you can hear the naturalists talk about “tiger territory,” “scent marks,” or “scratch marks.” Even the guides on gypsy safari tell the tourists about these tiger territories. Most of the tourists get confused and wonder what these tiger territories really mean. 

In simple words, every tiger has its own area in the forest. This area is its home, its hunting ground, and its safe space. And to keep this area safe, the tiger leaves different types of marks. These marks tell other tigers, “This zone belongs to me.” Let’s know about the tiger territories of Tadoba National Park. 

Why Do Tigers Need a Territory?

Tigers are not social animals, and they live alone most of the time. Only the mother tigress is seen with her cubs. So, each tiger needs a big area to survive. This space helps the tiger to find enough food in a particular area, stay safe inside the park, and raise their cubs without disturbance. This territory also helps the tiger to avoid fights with other tigers. 

In Tadoba National Park, the male tigers usually need a larger territory than the females. A big male tiger may control an area of 60 - 100 sq km or even more. A female tiger usually controls around 20–40 sq km. If other tigers enter their territory, then it can lead to big fights inside the park. So, to avoid the fights, tigers communicate with each other through their marks and scents. 

How Tigers Mark Their Territory

Most of the time, tigers use many clever ways to mark their area. Some marks are clear and visible to humans, and others are only understood by the tigers. 

1. Scent Marking (Spraying Urine)

This is the most common way in which the tigers mark their territory in Tadoba National Park. The tigers spray their urine on trees, bushes, and rocks. The smell from the urine carries a message. To humans, it may smell like strong jasmine perfume. Many tourists think that someone is using a strong perfume, but let me tell you that it’s the tiger urine. 

The tiger urine has chemicals called pheromones. Other tigers can easily smell these pheromones and understand who marked this area. They can understand if it was a male tiger or a female, or how strong the tiger is. The tigers can also understand by smelling the urine if a tiger is ready to mate. Tigers don’t need to meet each other to send messages. Just a mark is enough.

Tigers lift their tails high while spraying, and they usually mark the tree trunks, big rocks, fallen logs, or the trail edges. During your thrilling Tadoba Safari, if your guide suddenly stops and says “urine spray,” then get ready for a tiger sighting because it’s possible that a tiger is nearby. 

2. Scratching the Ground

The tigers of Tadoba National Park also mark their territory by scratching the soil using their back legs. They throw mud and dust in the air. This creates a clear sign on the ground. These scratches say to other tigers that “This is my path. Don’t enter.” Tigers use these scratches as a warning board for other tigers. 

The strong smell from the glands of their paws also stays on the scratched soil. You won’t be able to smell it, but tigers can smell it easily. Through the scratches and paw smell, tigers know that they are entering the territory of a different tiger, so they stay away. 

When you go for a Tadoba Safari, you can also see the marks on the paths. You won’t be able to smell them, but they are visible to the tourists. On the safari trails, you can see the scratch marks, especially when you go for a morning safari in the park. Guides can easily identify which marks belong to a tiger and which belong to a leopard. 

3. Rubbing Their Face (Cheek Rubbing)

Tigers have scent glands even on their cheeks. They rub their face on the trees, branches, and small bushes of the park. Doing this leaves their personal smell inside the Jungle, and this method is gentler than the urine marking, but still very important. 

When a tiger rubs its cheeks on these things, then they are not only marking their territory. But they also do this when they feel relaxed or when they feel safe in their own space. They also do this inside the territory to make the area smell familiar. This behavior is often seen near waterholes or resting spots. 

4. Scratch Marks on Trees

This is one of the easiest ways to mark their territory inside Tadoba. These marks are also easier to spot for the Tadoba safari goers. Tigers stand on their back legs and scratch the tree bark with their sharp claws. These vertical scratch lines can be seen from far away.

These scratch marks act as a territory signboard, and sometimes tigers also use this way to sharpen their claws. Male tigers often scratch higher than females because they have larger bodies. Tourists love noticing this difference. When you go for a Tadoba safari, do take care to see the trees of bamboo and teak because scratches can be spotted on them, especially in trees of core zones like Moharli or Navegaon. 

5. Scat (Tiger Poop)

This might sound disgusting, but in reality, this is also a way of marking their territory. Tiger scat has a very strong smell. When a tiger leaves scat in the open, it tells other tigers that he/she was in this area, or it can also be understood as “This is my area.” 

Forest guards know about the different poop of animals inside the Tadoba National Park. Your guide can read this sign like a storybook. By seeing the scat, they can guess the tiger’s size, health, and even what it ate. If the scat is fresh, then the guides can also understand how recently the tiger was in the area, which helps in tiger tracking.