Study

Scent marking in free-ranging tigers, Panthera tigris

Smith, J. L. D.; McDougal, C.; Miquelle, D.

Animal Behaviour, 1989

Peer-reviewedfield observationwild

What they did

Marking behaviour by identified free-ranging tigers was recorded systematically along travel routes, noting where marks were placed, how often, and how the rate varied with location within a range and with the marker’s status.

Studied in: Panthera tigris
Sample size: marking events recorded from known individuals in Chitwan

What they found

Tigers mark heavily and non-randomly. Spray marking concentrates along boundaries and on regularly used trails, resident males mark far more than others, and marking rates rise where ranges meet. A mark carries information that persists for days after the animal has gone.

What it means

The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.

How the authors put it

Scent marking is the principal channel of communication in a species whose members rarely meet, maintaining tenure and advertising status without confrontation.

How NatureHQ reads it

This is the practical answer to how a solitary animal runs a society. The communication is real, continuous and dense; it simply happens asynchronously. Two tigers who never meet in a year can each know a great deal about the other. Describing that arrangement as an absence of social behaviour mistakes the medium for the message.

Limitations

Observed marking rates depend on how often an animal could be followed, which varied.
What information a mark actually carries is inferred from where and when it is placed, not read directly.
One study population; marking economics should differ where densities are much lower.