“No one’s ever seen tigers do this before.” A film crew flew a drone over an island full of big cats – and captured something extraordinary

As it is one of the most iconic animals on the planet, you would be forgiven for thinking that people know everything there is to know about tigers.

But new footage shot for the BBC’s Tiger Island proves this isn’t the case, and has scientists completely surprised.

Shot in Nepal, Tiger Island follows a team of wildlife filmmakers and big cat experts on an expedition to reveal the secret lives of tigers. The team focus in on a small island (measuring just 4 square kilometres) in a river system in western Nepal, which is home to one of the highest concentrations of tigers on Earth.

Following the tigers over two months, the team get to know individual tigers by studying their stripes – none of which are the same. Using drones, they follow the tigers as they live on the island and in this clip, discover something startling about them.

Tigers are famously considered to be solitary, with only mothers and their cubs living together.

“They are supposed to be incredibly territorial,” explains Dan O’Neill, a big cat scientist working on the series.

“Females do not cross paths unless they absolutely have to, they don’t share cubs, they don’t share parenting duties.”

But using a drone to capture footage of tiger behaviour, the team discover that this isn’t strictly the case.

One mother tiger, called Goma, who has two cubs, ends up looking after five: with three cubs from a different mother, Jugini. While Jugini is a little distance away eating, Goma cares for all the cubs on her own.

“I have never seen this kind of thing, one mother leaving her cubs with another, this is definitely something different,” says Manju Mahatara, a local tiger guide who worked on Tiger Island.

One theory that could explain why this happens is that it could be a response to the threat posed by males, helping to keep the cubs safe while one parent is busy. The two adult tigers filmed – Goma and Jugini – are thought to be related, with Goma possibly being the mother of Jugini.

Jugini is not often seen in the same area as Goma, but when she is she seems to interact peacefully with the other tigresses.

“One mother is looking after all the cubs while the other is eating. No one has ever seen tigers do this before,” says O’Neill as the scene unfolds in front of him.

“I was about to say tigers are solitary big cats, are they? I don’t know anymore… You just don’t imagine that there are things to learn still about the most iconic animal on the planet, but there is and it’s here.”

This article by Daisy Bowie-Sell was first published by Discover Wildlife on 16 June 2026. Lead Image: Goma and cub crossing a river | Image credit: BBC.