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<\/div>London – A stripy orange coat seems a bold choice for a predator trying to blend into a forest background.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But it turns out tigers really are camouflaged \u2013 even if it doesn\u2019t look like it to us.<\/p>\n
Scientists have found that while tigers appear bright orange to humans, their main prey, deer, see them as green.<\/p>\n
This is because humans with normal \u2018trichromatic\u2019 vision can see red, blue and green lights, but deer lack the right cells in their eyes to detect the colour red.<\/p>\n
A study by the University of Bristol used computers to simulate what the world looks like through the eyes of a \u2018dichromat\u2019 \u2013 an animal which cannot differentiate between red and green.<\/p>\n
They did this by generating images of red objects against different backgrounds, including tigers\u2019 natural forest habitat.<\/p>\n
Study lead Dr John Fennell said that by simulating what the world looks like to \u2018dichromatic\u2019 animals it is possible to \u2018identify the optimum colours for concealment and visibility\u2019.<\/p>\n
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Writing in the Royal Society Journal Interface, he said: \u2018The tiger appears orange to a trichromat observer rather than some shade of green, though the latter should be more appropriate camouflage for an ambush hunter in forests.<\/p>\n
\u2018However … when viewed by a dichromat, the tiger\u2019s colour is very effective.\u2019<\/p>\n
Dr Fennell explained while green fur would help tigers to evade their own predators \u2013 namely humans \u2013 \u2018mammalian biochemistry\u2019 makes it impossible for them to produce that colour. The only mammal that does appear green in the wild is the sloth \u2013 but only because algae grows in its fur.<\/p>\n
\nDaily Mail
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