Sheep among Tigers - One puzzle a day - Puzzle Buddies

Puzzle:

In a meadow, there are 100 tigers and only 1 sheep.

These tigers can survive on grass as well as meat. If any tiger eats the sheep, it will instantly turn into a sheep which other tigers can eat if they want to. All the tigers know this.

The question is, given this knowledge, will any tiger ever eat the sheep?

What about the scenario when there are n tigers and 1 sheep?

Here are some more facts:

1. One tiger has to eat the complete sheep if it wants to. There is no sharing.

2. Tigers value their life. They can survive on grass but will eat the sheep if they are sure their life is not in danger.

Solution:

The strategy is to solve it for 1 tiger first , then 2, then 3 and so on.

If

1. 1 tiger: then he will eat the sheep as he is safe as no one is there to eat him.

2. 2 tigers: Both won't eat the sheep as if one eats the sheep he will become a sheep and then will be eaten by the other tiger.

3. 3 tigers: One of them will eat the sheep and become a sheep himself. This way the situation goes back to point 2 and then all of them are safe.

This way the answer is that whenever there are even number of tigers then they won't eat the sheep other wise one will eat the sheep to make number of tigers even.

Winner: As usual Gaurave. Excellent explanation.