Now the time of great hunts has come for Philippa. The tigress has grown noticeably: being 8 or 9 months old, she already weighs about 50-60 kg and looks much longer. By this age, the proportions of her body have become similar to those of adult tigers, and the primary teeth are being replaced by the permanent ones. The molt will also complete soon, and the color of her fur will become even, clean, and bright. In fact, Filya has already entered the “hunting school”. At the first stage of development of her hunting behavior, the tigress had an opportunity to hunt for small-sized prey (such as rabbits). Also, the young tigress was offered whole carcasses of wild boars to make her familiar with the smell of ungulates, which form the major portion of tigers’ diet in a wild. After the young tiger realized that wild boar is edible, piglets were released into her enclosure, as wild tigers gain the hinting skill preying on small and young wild boars also.
