Felids Interactions - Interspecific Conflicts

[Roberto]

"Similar to the claim of a sloth bear killing a Tiger in Dudhwa which had no evidence to back it either. "

while its not 100% confirmed, its the most likely case, look at the injuries. also, the bear was the only animal seen in that area. "No pugmarks of another tiger were found around the water hole"

"The nature of injuries on the neck and head of the tiger suggest they may have been caused during an attack by a sloth bear,”

Dudhwa tiger may have been killed by huge sloth bear:

BAREILLY: A tiger found dead in a water hole in Dudhwa range of Dudhwa National Park on Sunday may have been killed by a sloth bear, suspect Dudhwa officials. While no pugmarks of another tiger were found around the water hole, images of a huge sloth bear have been captured by camera traps set 150 metres from the spot. The bear had a few scratches on its face and seemed to be moving about with difficulty.

“The nature of injuries on the neck and head of the tiger suggest they may have been caused during an attack by a sloth bear,” said DTR field director Ramesh Pandey. The autopsy report submitted on Monday had said the tiger was killed by a “large carnivore” but did not specifically say it was another tiger.

Though a tiger being attacked by a bear is rare, Panday recalled an incident reported from Tadoba National Park in Maharashtra in 2018 when a male tiger, ‘Matkasur’, had picked up a fight with a sloth bear near a water hole. The fight was captured on camera by a tourist.

“The video showed the tiger was resting in the water when the sloth bear arrived with its cub. It fought with the bear possibly trying to defend its territory. But Matkasur lost the fight as it struggled to grip the bear’s thick fur. Fortunately, the tiger survived,” the field director said.

Pandey suspects that in Dudhwa, too, a similar situation arose. But in this case, the tiger was aged as it was over 12 years old. Such tigers are often thrown out of their territory and sometimes reside around water holes due to easy availability of prey. “This tiger may have fought with the sloth bear for dominance over the water hole as in Tadoba. However, this is not the final conclusion. We have also sought pictures captured by camera traps in Dudhwa range during tiger census of 2018. This will help us in identifying if any other tiger is in this area.

“A bear is quite a powerful animal and its claws may cause deep wounds on the tiger's body,” Pandey said.
Daksh Gangwar of Wildlife Trust of India, who was part of the veterinary team that conducted the autopsy, said, “The injuries were caused by a large powerful animal, possibly a carnivore. Such injuries can also be caused by a sloth bear because it has strong claws and can inflict serious injuries on a tiger."

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