Hari Bhadra Acharya

1 Introduction The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest feline in the world, occupying a diversity of habitats, ranging from semi-arid areas in India to the tropical rain forests of Sumatra (Indonesia) to the coniferous forests of Russia (Seidensticker et al. 1999; Sunquist 1999). Tigers are pivotal to ecosystem functions, providing key ecological services such as controlling food webs, facilitating nutrient cycling, and impeding exotic species invasions (Hammerschlag et al. 2019).