The project provided opportunities for researchers from India and abroad to study tigers in the reserves and gather previously unavailable information about their habits. Studies show that a male tiger may control a hunting territory of between 10 and 20sq. kms, depending on its age, size and strength. The territory of a male includes the smaller territories of three or four tigresses. A tiger marks the boundaries of its territorial fights, being guided by the distinctive body smell of other tigers. Tigers fight to death only when a tigress is defending her young, or when a tiger is guarding a tigress from the attention of other males.