A question asked by someone just like you.
Why do tigers have to be so scary?
The tiger’s huge size and strength, sharp teeth and claws, and snarling manner are scary to us. But to the tiger they are just tools that it needs to survive. The tiger is the top predator in its habitat. (That means it may eat other predators, but no other predators eat the tiger.) Top predators tend to be large. Tigers weigh 200 to 600 pounds. That makes many sizes of prey available to them. But a 300-pound wild pig can be dangerous, even to a big tiger. The tiger ambushes the pig and holds on with its claws while it clamps the prey’s neck with powerful jaws and sharp teeth. If the tiger does not gain control over the pig quickly, the pig may fight back and injure the tiger. Then the tiger may starve because it can no longer hunt. Tigers also defend territories against other tigers to ensure that they will have enough food to survive. If you see a tiger in the zoo snarling at another tiger, it is almost certainly competing for food or space. —Lory Frame, Wildlife Biologist
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