ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[Nyers]

Quote:Returning to Batalov, tiger 'Ochkarik' and bear 'Chlamid'. My first question is if Batalov, in your opinion, suggested 'Chlamid' was killed by 'Ochkarik'? If not (second question), could it, time- and locationwise, have been possible the 'very large' bear killed by 'Ochkarik' was 'Chlamid'? Is there another explanation that could fit? Was Batalov's observation (third question) discussed on Russian forums? Did you (last question) get to an opinion on Batalov's observation, tiger 'Ochkarik' and bear 'Chlamid'?

Batalov, in none of his references which I saw about the killed brown bear, did not name him by the name of "Chlamida", but this does not mean anything, as far as I know it is usually not customary to give nicknames to wild bears and i dont know why. I am subscribed to Kolchin, Zyablov, Lukarevsky and have not seen them give nicknames to bears, maybe only orphan bears.

Based on all Batalovs mentions about interactions of the tiger "Ochkarik" with bears, i cant say with certainty that one of the bears killed by "Ochkarik" could have been "Chlamida". However some details from Batalovs stories give as reason to assume that "Chlamida" probably became the prey of the tiger "Ochkarik" and thats why:
Here Batalov during his story to a journalist about tigers living vicinity of Durmin, mentioned the case with Ochkarik and bear:

Quote:...Очкарик как-то убил и съел бурого медведя, который преследовал тигрицу Рашель с тигренком. После этого его так раздуло, что Баталов не мог сначала понять, что случилось. Но потом нашел в тигриных экскрементах медвежатину...

"...Ochkarik killed and ate brown bear that followed tigress Rachel with cub. After that, Ochkarik got so fat that Batalov couldnt understand what had happened. But then he found the remains of bear in tiger excrement..."
https://takiedela.ru/2021/02/zoloto-tigrov/

As far as I know, there are no other case of a brown bear chasing the tigress Rachelle was recorded.

This article has a little more details:

Quote:...Однажды Очкарик задавил очень крупного бурого медведя, остались от того после поединка одни пятки. Как говорят французы, шерше ля фам. Очкарик отомстил зверю за то, что тот отбирал у его подруги, тигрицы Рошель, добычу и оставлял голодными ее тигрят, в результате чего двое из них погибли...

"...Once Ochkarik crushed a very large brown bear, after the fight only heels were left of it. As the French say, Cherche la femme. Ochkarik took revenge on the beast for taking prey from his partner, the tigress Rachelle, and leaving her cubs hungry, as a result of which two of them died..."

https://habinfo.ru/aleksandr-batalov/


Here we can see that Batalov talks about the size of the killed bear, as well as that he managed to find the remains of the killed bear.
When he describes the size of a killed bear, he uses the phrase "очень крупный". "Крупный" - its already big/large bear. "Очень крупный" - very big/large brown bear as "Chlamida" i think or about the same size bear. Hear this from a person who has been engaged in catching brown bears in Primorye for a significant part of his career: weighing bears, studying the contents of stomachs and measuring them, measuring skulls, etc. I want to say that the size of a killed bear should really be impressive so that such an experienced bear specialist would use the phrase "очень крупный" when describing the size of an animal.
"Chlamida" fully matches this description.

About this phrase:
"...остались от того после поединка одни пятки..."
[i]"...after the fight only heels were left of it..."[/i]
This does not necessarily mean that he literally found only heels. it was probably a phraseological unit like "Остались от козлика рожки да ножки" (eng."The horns and legs remained from the goat") - when little is left of a killed animal. Maybe he found some other parts of body, paws, skull, claws, canines and etc. 
Unfortunately, none of the journalists was interested in this topic and none of them asked Batalov about the details.

I spend very little time on russian forums, nevertheless, I have not seen this case discussed. Reply