Tigers are stalk and ambush predators unlike cursory hunters who keep on chasing their prey and wear them down by exhaustion and kill them.
Tiger stalks its prey and follows it with a lightening charge. It jumps on the back of the animal grabs its neck and pulls it backwards. The weight of the tiger falls on the neck of the animal. The animal leans forward due to this weight and falls and since the tiger keeps on pulling the neck back the weight of the tiger as well as the prey now falls on the neck of the prey while it is falling. This results in a clean dislocation of the neck of the prey.
For smaller animals like a cheetal fawn, it is usually a nape bite that suffices.
For killing bigger prey like Gaur, the tiger attacks from behind and severs the tendon of its hind leg there by restricting the movements of the Gaur. It then jumps over the back to complete the neck dislocation.
The image of a tigress and cub feeding on a Sambar kill shows the dislocated neck.
All other big carnivores like leopards, lions, cheetah etc choke their prey to kill them. At times adolescent tigers are also seen killing their prey by choking them like a leopard. It takes time to master this technique.
I have heard lot of experts say that tiger hunts only during early morning and late evenings. However, I have seen tiger trying to hunt at any time of the day whenever the tiger feels hungry and finds a potential prey nearby.
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