Tigers need territories that have an abundance of prey, enough vegetation cover for hunting and a few permanent waterholes. Once they establish such territories, they then aggressively defend it from other tigers of the same sex. This speaks more so for the core of their territory than the far edges. Permanent water holes, though, are crucial for the survival of tigers in the wild. In semi-arid forests like Ranthambhore, during the hot and dry summers, most of the waterholes dry out and only a few remain. In the tiger world, such waterholes are definitely worth fighting for. Let me tell you a story about one such fight that I witnessed near Phoota Kot in Ranthambhore.
A few years ago, a tigress called Ghost, numbered T60 by the forest department, had her first litter of three cubs. At the edge of her territory was a string of about half a dozen waterholes in an area called Phoota Kot. Ghost shared these waterholes with another tigress named Noor, who lived in the adjoining territory.
