Tiger

Tigers represent the apex of solitary predation strategy, demonstrating how individual power can match or exceed pack coordination in competitive outcomes. Where wolves succeed through numbers and persistence, tigers succeed through ambush power—a single tiger can kill prey that would require a wolf pack. A tiger's 1,000-pound bite force and 400+ pound body mass make pack hunting unnecessary.

Critically, tigers don't create the same ecosystem effects as wolves. Tiger predation is opportunistic and individual; it doesn't create 'landscapes of fear' that alter prey behavior at population scale. Deer in tiger habitat remain distributed throughout the landscape; deer in wolf habitat cluster in defensible areas. This means tiger predation doesn't trigger trophic cascades—there's no vegetation recovery, no stream bank restoration, no cascade of effects through the ecosystem.

The business parallel is individual performer versus systematic competitor impact. Tigers are like superstar salespeople, attorneys, or traders whose individual performance equals a team's output. They can win individual deals but don't reshape markets. Wolves are like systematic competitors whose coordinated presence changes how everyone else behaves. Amazon doesn't just win sales—it changes how competitors price, stock, and operate. Tiger strategy produces isolated wins; wolf strategy produces market transformation.