Compared with grassland lions and spotted hyena , mountain forest tigers and wolves are like natural enemies. In the century-old war between tigers and wolves, there is always a clear tug of war, with tigers advancing and wolf retreating. However, as a group of carnivores second only to tigers, wolves can be said to be the number one princes in the mountains and forests.
Friends who like to watch animal columns will often see pictures of tigers lazily in the mountains. At times, the tiger will change itself, lose its languid state, and leap forward, plunging down prey larger than it is.
What makes people feel strange is that tigers can obviously allow the existence of other animals, and even occasionally climb trees to pick fruits and feed their prey. When they are hungry and cannot find prey, they will choose to eat animals in their territory. Only There are no large packs of wolves around.
So the question is, why do wolves in packs lose to tigers fighting alone? What kind of tactics did the tigers adopt to prevent the wolves from appearing around? Let's talk about this topic below.
Canine princes: wolf in the forest
Generally speaking, different cultures generally hold different views on the same animal, and there are always some differences. However, all cultures related to wolves carry some bad words, which are not only reflected in their cunning characters, but also in their ferocious tactics of collective fighting.
wolf is a national second-class protected wild animal, canis carnivora canis , commonly known as wild wolf, jackal and gray wolf . There are 13 genera and 36 species of canids in the same genus in the world, including dogs, jackals, foxes, etc. The wolf is the largest and most ferocious of the canids.
The wolf is about 130 to 190 centimeters in length and 40 to 60 kilograms in weight. The male is about 20 centimeters larger than the female. Their coat color is more gray-yellow, brown-gray or light brown-yellow,The forehead and top of the head are grayish-white and black, with a less pronounced mane.
Unlike predators such as tigers, the front legs of the wolf are longer than the rear ones, it can be said that it is a " rear wheel drive " guy, and its jumping ability is not bad, the jump distance is about 450 centimeter.
The chief of the cat family: the king of the forest
The tiger is a national first-class protected animal , all cultures related to tigers are praised. In all fields of traditional culture, its image is ubiquitous, so it has become an indispensable part of Chinese civilization.
It can be said that the majesty of the tiger is not only reflected in its perfect appearance, but also in its survival strategy. As a tiger in the subgenus of the cat family Panthera Tiger subgenus, there are also lions, cheetahs and golden cats under the same cat family.
Tigers are about 180 to 370 cm in length and 91 to 423 kg in weight. The size span is large because males are about 26% larger than females. They are brilliantly colored, graduating from north to south from yellow to red , with dark stripes and a black stripe with the word "王" on the forehead.
Unlike the wolf, the hind legs of the tiger are longer than the front legs, the hind legs are full of power, and the jump height can reach 6 meters. , One bite, the hunt is successful.
In nature, lone tigers and pack wolves have their own territory. They do not interfere with each other, and they occupy the mountains as kings. As the homeland of tigers, China is the homeland of mountains and forests. There are no wolves around it, and tigers cannot adapt to the environment in which wolves live.
The strength of the tiger and the wolf
Speed: The speed of the tiger is 90 km/h,The speed of the wolf is 60 kilometers per hour, but the tiger's endurance is not as good as that of the wolf. The wolf can continuously run for 20 kilometers at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. From this point of view, the endurance of the wolf is comparable to the speed of the tiger.
Hunting methods: Tigers are masters of ambush, their hunting strategies are fast, ruthless, and accurate, and the hunting success rate is only 5%; wolves work in teams, and in the face of large animals, they will not launch a sudden attack, but after selecting a target , constantly chasing, the purpose is to exhaust the prey's strength, and then surround the prey and attack together.
The so-called "Tigers can't fight against a pack of wolves" is strange to say that wolves are obviously pack animals, but they have absolutely no ability to fight back against a tiger fighting alone. performed to the fullest.
We have to talk about the Hundred Years War of the Tiger and Wolf. In fact, under the strength of the tiger, the fighting power of the wolves is far less than it. Throughout the Hundred Years of War between Tigers and Wolfs, the 100-year tug-of-war can be roughly divided into three stages.
①Stage 1: The tiger retreats and the wolf advances.
Wolves and tigers are like natural enemies. The interaction between the two belongs to "one and the other". Although the number of wolves has an advantage, it is firmly suppressed by the tiger. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, the characteristics of tigers and wolves were clearly manifested.
In the Sikhote Alin Reserve, wolves were rarely seen at first, but in the 1940s, tigers were hunted in large numbers, and wolves took the opportunity to enter. With the reduction of tigers, more and more appear. the trend of.
②Phase 2: Tigers advance and wolves retreat
As tigers become endangered, only a few dozen are left, and wolves are flooding in local areas, bringing a lot to the lives of local people. In 1947, the tiger became a protected animal, and hunting was strictly prohibited.
In 1979, with Siberian tiger 30 years of transnational migration,The number of tigers in the USSR has increased, reaching over 200. At that time, the number of wolves and the number of tigers were not enough to make them all disappear, and they will still be common in the east of Ussuri River for up to 30 years.
The trend of the number of tigers was tight. In the 1980s, the number of tigers steadily recovered to more than 300, which injected strength into the territorial battle between tigers and wolves. The number dropped rapidly.
This tug-of-war between tigers advancing and wolves retreating lasted for 10 years. By the early 1990s, the number of tigers had grown to about 500. The wolves retreated to the area of Qinghai Lake, and the tigers chased after Qinghai Lake. East of the Suli River, it is difficult to find any traces of wolves.
③Stage 3: Tiger and wolf balance
At the beginning of the 21st century, the forest was destroyed, the tigers around Qinghai Lake became extinct, and the wolves made a comeback. Only relying on the tigers distributed in the Sikhote Alin Mountains, due to the restraint of the number, has been difficult to completely expel the wolves.
The tiger, the king of the forest, sticks to most of the area east of the Ussuri River, as a territory that must not be invaded by wolves. Faced with the occasional appearance of wolves, the tigers focus on expelling them. So far, the tigers and wolves have reached a new balance. .
This is the Hundred Years War between tigers and wolves. So far, both tigers and wolves have become protected animals. In a natural state, there will be no packs of wolves around tigers, and the environment in which packs of wolves live is not suitable for tigers as habitats.
The century-old tug-of-war between tigers and wolves is enough to see that wolves are suppressed by tigers, so the question is, why can tigers defeat wolves? The main reasons are as follows:
1. The tiger is strong and the wolf is weak
As mentioned above,Wolves cannot compare with tigers in terms of speed and physique. In the case of a huge disparity in physique and combat power, in the face of tigers' one roar, two leaps, three swings, and four pounces, under the bite force of about 450 kilograms , the wolf encounters the tiger and can only flee.
When a pack of wolves meet a tiger, in the competition of speed and IQ, as the natural "king", it is understandable for the tiger to defeat the wolf.
2. Food demand determines the habitat of tigers and wolves
In nature, for predators, food is the guarantee of survival. Just eat one meal, and you have to eat 12 kilograms of meat for one meal. However, a wolf, and a group of wolves, are faced with the situation of "more monks and less meat" starvation.
In order to survive better, wolves have to weaken the number of wolves. In order to better adapt to a variety of environments, they are constantly adjusting their survival strategies. This also means that an adult tiger can easily defeat wolves when faced with a weakened pack of wolves.
So why do tigers drive away wolves?
wolves are the strongest hunters at the top of the natural food chain with their high IQ hunting strategy. However, if you can fight a brown bear , tigers are the most deadly threat to wolves. There is a competition for food between the two. For tigers, naturally, they cannot tolerate the existence of wolves around.
For a wolf, the food it needs every day is actually far less than that of a tiger. A wolf eats 10 to 15 pounds of meat a day. However, the food demand of a pack of wolves is far greater than that of tigers.
Why do tigers drive away wolves? There are two main reasons:
1. Tigers protect their cubs
The reason why tigers are not as numerous as wolves,Mainly from reproductive capacity. For male tigers, there is no fixed estrus period, but because male tigers have barbed genitals, it is dangerous to mate male and female tigers.
The tigress successfully conceived and gave birth to cubs after 100 to 113 days. During this period, the male tiger will not participate in the growth of the cubs, but it is required to silently guard the cubs and the female tiger. Then the male tiger will naturally not allow the wolves to appear around.
2. Nature
As the king of the mountains and forests, the tiger's habit is to be alone. As we all know, a pack of wolves is particularly "noisy". On various occasions, packs of wolves like to raise their heads and howl, and the sound is harsh enough to scare away prey from a radius of ten miles.
For a tiger whose hunting success rate is only 5%, the wolves not only compete for food, but also may leave it with no prey to catch. Therefore, the tiger will drive the wolf away.
ending
The number of woodland wolves has been weakened, making it difficult to compete with tigers. Nowadays, the relationship between tigers and wolves is the "you come and I go, you go and I come" mode of getting along. The tiger suppresses the wolf and can defeat the wolf, but it can never destroy the wolf in a balanced state.
For wolves, the instinct of animals to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages makes them naturally avoid tigers when they see them. Although the number of wolves is large, it is not cost-effective to fight against tigers.
It can be said that the attitude of human beings determines the survival of tigers and wolves. As for the future war between tigers and wolves, we cannot determine the final trend. The only certainty is that protecting the diverse habitats in nature and sufficient prey will promote tigers. Harmonious coexistence with wolves.
Why do tigers drive out wolves? Tiger-Wolf Hundred Years War, the number of woodland wolves has weakened, and it is difficult to compete with tigers? What do you think differently? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss!
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