Sharp claws are needed by the tiger to kill animals in the forest.

The correct answer is A. Tigers are built for ambush predation, and their retractable claws are a key part of that toolkit. The claws, often over 10 cm on the forepaws, hook into the hide and muscle of prey such as deer, wild boar or gaur, and hold the animal while the tiger brings it down. The killing bite itself is delivered by the canines, typically to the throat or neck to cut off breathing, but the claws are what keep the prey under control during that struggle.

Why the other options fail:

• B (Probably true) and C (Probably false) hedge on a point that is well established in the morphology and hunting behaviour of the big cats, so hedging is not warranted.
• D (Definitely false) is wrong because the claim is supported by observed predation behaviour and feline anatomy.

The core concept is adaptive morphology: a carnivore's weapons (claws, canines, body mass) match its hunting method. This links to Environment and Ecology, in the study of predator-prey relationships and trophic levels, and to Mains questions on human-wildlife conflict, where understanding how predators take down prey helps explain livestock losses.

Trap: aspirants often treat the claim as a hedged one because the canine bite is the more famous killing tool. Claws do not replace the bite, but they are needed to hold prey, so the statement is correct.