What does it mean when a tiger leaves unfinished prey and never returns?

Tigers have territories where they live, eat and play. Once a tiger has established his ground, that area remains his until he dies. Some tigers live in close proximity to other tigers, they will occasionally be found playing together or sharing a meal. But most tigers live solitary lives once they leave the den where they were born, around age two.

When hunting is good the female tiger may have 15 to 30 miles of grange land or territory, males may cover 45 to 100 miles that he calls his own. In Russia where prey is scarce, tigers have hundreds of miles they roam for food.

Tigers are at the top of the food chain. Their preference is for mammals and hoofed animals - such as deer and wild pigs. But when a tiger is hungry he will eat what he finds; reptiles, fish, birds, and even bears or leopards.

A tiger will kill and eat until he is full, once he has finished he will cover the remains and will usually return over the next few days. But a tiger with new cubs may not wander far, if prey is good, closer to the den she has made in a hollowed out tree or a cave.

Tigers in the wild have been known to live to be 25 years old, but only half of all cubs live to adulthood. Female tigers begin breeding at three to four years. They have two to three cubs every 2.5 to 4 years.