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Tiger Predation
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Pckts :
Hayward and co-authors published the prey preference of most large carnivores analyzing a great volume of published studies, the studies were general tiger predation ( the same for other carnivores) without discussing the different predatory behavior between males and females and what class of each prey was selected ( like Randolff and Du Toit did for Mala Mala reserve in South Africa for African carnivores or Funston for Kruger lions). I have not come across detailed studies in terms of the prey spectra difference between male tigers and female tigers but both Sunquist and Seidensticker state that tigresses concentrate of prey smaller than themselves, male tigers target prey closer to their size or larger than themselves, the strong sexual dimorphism in tigers ( and leopards) versus other big cats supports this theory. Guate: In studies based on kills, the observed carcasses can give an idea on the age and sex of prey and its approximate weight , this is most seen with studies of open habitats/woodlands for lions and cheetahs and less so for other cats. As you know the study of a dense forest, nocturnal, illusive, solitary predator like the tiger will make the number of observed kills small to draw conclusions ( or you need very long studies) so scat analysis is the way, and since this does not determine the age,sex,and state of the prey so three quarter of the average female weight is used therefore: 60 kg can be 3/4 of the weight of female wild boar in South Asia or Sika deer doe in the Amur region. 260 kg..this is baffling because this is approximately the size of a fine Sambar stag or a red deer stag ( 3/4 of the female weight is significantly less)... if we attribute this number to gaur and banteng it is less than 3/4 of the weight of the female, perhaps they averaged the known kills in different age classes from both sexes and came to that number, yet he clearly uses 650 kg for gaur which is the size of a large cow or a small bull, I can not really say for sure how . Peter: Thank you for your recent post, you do get the nature, precision, and goal of big cats science in the 21st century, what we need to do in any study is to present to governments what tigers ( and for that matter all large carnivores ) need in terms of habitat, quality, approximate home range, prey density, prey preference , anti-poaching strategies, and cost. 
I'd be curious about The
Karanth et al. 2005, the Schaller 1967, Johnsing 1983 and 1992 and McDougal (1977); Eisenberg & Seidensticker (1976) Dhungal & O'gara 1991 Seidensticker & McDougal 1993 Since those are the ones with Guar population and any others I may have missed. I'd like to compare those particular findings to see if there is any relevance to age and sex of the Tiger to Guar preference or any other larger prey selections. I guess I'm starting to focus more on Guar predation in particular than all predation, which I know isn't the key to conservation, but the relationship between the 2 interests me the same as the relationship between cape and lion. I'd love to know of any studies on Water buffalo from the Kaziranga area but I have seen no studies on them or their cohabitation.
Rajarshi Banerji
'TIGRESS STALKING ELEPHANTS' Elephant herds with babies are very careful about tiger attacks and tigers know too well that elephants are not an easy prey, especially during daytime. To my great surprise, a desperate Corbett tigress with four cubs to feed, started stalking a big herd of elephants in broad daylight, causing utter panic and shrill trumpeting in the herd and eventually causing the herd to bolt away. It was amazing to see how a single tigress could scare away a big herd of elephants. I was fortunate to witness this extraordinary predator behaviour in the Bijrani Zone of Corbett in 2015.  *This image is copyright of its original author
(12-02-2015, 12:32 AM)Pckts Wrote: I'd be curious about TheSchaller reported that the majority of gaur kills he observed in Kanha in 1965 were calves younger than 6 months. All the scientists in the Chitwan Smithsonian tiger project studies in the 70's and 80's ( Sunquist, Seidensticker, Tamang, Smith, McDougal ) mentioned that predation on gaur was minimal due to difference in habitat and low rates of encounter. Only Karanth and Sunquist provided more details on predation on adult gaur in Nagarahole of 69 kills they observed 14.6% were adult males, 22.6% adult females, 4% subadults, and 58% calves. Johnsingh and Sankhala mentioned that tiger predation on gaur in Bandipur increased after the hoof and mouth epidemic in the early 90's, most victims were calves but some adults were taken as well. I don't think we can compare this predation to the lion predation on cape buffalo, buffalo comprises 35% of the ungulate biomass in Africa second only to elephants, they number in the millions, and co-evolved with lions to be a major prey item all over Africa...lions were forced to learn to hunt buffalo and that is in part a reason for forming prides. Tigers were recent arrivals to Southern Asia and started to exploit bovids as prey more recently, and the entire gaur/banteng/water buffalo population is less than 40,000. Interestingly tigers from the Western Forest Complex in Thailand seem to be accomplished bovid predators and take adults of these three bovids ( and that is the only place they all still exist)...this is very impressive considering that the tigers there are smaller than their Bengal brothers ( a young collard male weighed only 350 LBS, captive males around 170 kg). Tigers were recent arrivals to South Asia Tigers
Tiger predation on adult wild water buffalo is reported from Thailand ( Smicharoen) and Manas on the border between India and Bhutan ( Wang) they also occur in Kaziranga and in one reserve in Nepal...this patchy distribution and low numbers of less than 4000 all over Asia will make tiger predation on them less likely, I think they are even more formidable prey than gaur with their stronger more compact build and long powerful horns.
Gaurs are locally extinct in Kaziranga, I found no evidence to suggest otherwise.
Prey and Predator (ST 6) .. — at Sariska Tiger Reserve.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
 (12-02-2015, 12:20 AM)Dr Panthera Wrote: Guate: More to come on this, I am going to explain why the range of 60-250 kg is wrong, and believe me, it is easier that what I previously believed. By the way, why in the figure 3 of Haywar et al. (2012) the graphic of the gaur ("gaur deer" (sic!) in the document) is incomplete? Can you explain me this @Dr Panthera? 
(12-09-2015, 11:36 PM)Dr Panthera Wrote:(12-08-2015, 01:43 AM)Roflcopters Wrote: Gaurs are locally extinct in Kaziranga, I found no evidence to suggest otherwise. post #606 by you. Quote:Respectfully : Nagarahole,Bandipur,Bardia, Huai Kha Khaeng, and Way Kambas all have resident elephant populations , Chitwan get transient ones from India across the border (mainly males) so six areas of overlap. There is a good amount of tiger research in areas where gaur exists ( e.g. Bandipur, Nagarhole, Kahna, Chitwan, and HKK from the mentioned areas and also in Manas, Kaziranga, and Malaysia among others. I was just correcting that and you're welcome. 
 (12-02-2015, 10:18 AM)Dr Panthera Wrote: Schaller reported that the majority of gaur kills he observed in Kanha in 1965 were calves younger than 6 months.If that is the case (tigers in India not being accomplished bovid predators), then why do tigers all over India repeatedly choose to hunt domestic cattle(adults, often large bulls) over Sambars and Chitals, whenever given an opportunity? Some domestic cattle breeds in India are very large, close to Gaurs in size, and yet tigers in Bandhavgarh for eg, repeatedly venture out of the forest just to prey on them, ignoring the plentiful deer in the forest. (12-13-2015, 12:30 PM)Shardul Wrote:(12-02-2015, 10:18 AM)Dr Panthera Wrote: Schaller reported that the majority of gaur kills he observed in Kanha in 1965 were calves younger than 6 months.If that is the case (tigers in India not being accomplished bovid predators), then why do tigers all over India repeatedly choose to hunt domestic cattle(adults, often large bulls) over Sambars and Chitals, whenever given an opportunity? Some domestic cattle breeds in India are very large, close to Gaurs in size, and yet tigers in Bandhavgarh for eg, repeatedly venture out of the forest just to prey on them, ignoring the plentiful deer in the forest. Some tigers are habitual livestock killers, a trend seen with other big cats, the anti-predator behaviour of domestic animals is not comparable to wild animals who are always more difficult to catch, they are more vigilant, familiar with their predators, more agile, and stronger pound for pound. Tigers in the Western Ghats are important gaur predators, gaur and sambar dominate the diets there as they are more available and therefore more likely to be encountered and treated as prey and perfect the hunting strategy. (12-12-2015, 05:26 AM)Roflcopters Wrote:(12-09-2015, 11:36 PM)Dr Panthera Wrote:(12-08-2015, 01:43 AM)Roflcopters Wrote: Gaurs are locally extinct in Kaziranga, I found no evidence to suggest otherwise. Thanks for the clarification, the last record of predation of gaur from Kaziranga I know of is from the early 1980's. So yes it is safe to say they are locally extinct there. (12-09-2015, 11:42 PM)GuateGojira Wrote:The lines ( dashed or filled ) were used for "significant predatory relationships" from kill records or scats, so I guess that Hayward and his co-authors did not find predation on gaur significant, like they did on Sambar, Chital, and wild boar.(12-02-2015, 12:20 AM)Dr Panthera Wrote: Guate:
Kuldeep Sharma
The kill and Killer, Shivanjhari, Kolsa, TATR, March2015  *This image is copyright of its original author Big girl with her Guar kill. |
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