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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Nicola Davis Science Correspondent

Majesty or steadiness: researchers identify two tiger personality traits

A tiger at the Siberian tiger park in Harbin, north-east China
A tiger at the Siberian tiger park in Harbin, north-east China, one of the study sites. Photograph: Héctor Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

From wily Shere Khan to exuberant Tony, tigers have often been depicted as full of character. Now research suggests that’s no fiction, with scientists identifying two aspects of their personality.

Experts say that just as five dimensions of personality, including openness and neuroticism, are often used to describe humans – with everyone sitting somewhere on a scale for each trait – Siberian tigers all sit on two scales dubbed “majesty” and “steadiness”.

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