The Role of Scent Marking in the Breeding Behavior of Tiger and other Big Cats

Marking objects and prominent spots with their urine borne pheromones is believed to be related with the establishment of their territories by the big cats. A study carried out on snow leopards, tigers and leopards at Darjeeling Zoo revealed that these big cats marked objects with their scents in order to induce breeding condition in partners of opposite sex. The paper presents the observation on the role of scent marking in the breeding behavior of big cats including the tiger.