Big cat and Bear tale

[Shadow]

(03-11-2020, 11:06 PM)GuateGojira Wrote:

(03-10-2020, 11:37 PM)Rage2277 Wrote: sloth bears chase tigers in any reserve it's nothing unique in ranthambore idk about sloth bears dominating tigers there because that would involve them bulling tigers of their kills which i've yet to see and tigers have killed and eaten sloth bears in ranthambore here this is the usual outcome when they chase a tiger 

Been honest I don't know of any report of sloth bears chasing tigers in other areas, probably they are, but I had not see them. Now about the relation about sloth bears and tigers in Ranthambore, here is what the late Fateh Singh Rathore has to say:

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Yes, it is in the book of Valmik Thapar "Tiger Ultimate Guide" (page 142) of 2004, but it was Mr Fateh who said that. Sorry for the confusion.


Now, this is what Valmik Thapar said in his book "Tiger Portrait of a Predator" in 1986:

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Interestingly, Stephen Mills in his book "Tigers" of 2004 provide a report of a Chitwan tiger that had a particular taste for sloth bears:

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Richard Perry in the book "The World of the Tiger" of 1965 provide a few remarks, all in favor of the tiger:

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Sankhala in his book "Tiger! The Story of the Indian Tiger" of 1977, also provided a few remarks:

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So, it is pretty clear that tigers and sloth bears will try to aviod each other, but if the tiger has the change it will hunt and eat the bear, which means that tiger normally dominate over the sloth bear, but the bear been also very agressive can return the attack and like some videos show, the tiger will retreat, even adults. The case of Ranthambore is interesting, maybe the conclution of Mr Fateh is allready old for these days, but his observations are remarkable at 2004.

That what Fateh Singh observed was interesting. It feels quite safe to assume, that sloth bears (with time and experience, so adults) have ability to notice if they meet young tigers which show insecurity and take advantage of it. That arrogant behavior feels right only if really big male sloth bear with a lot of experience and tiger showing some signs of insecurity. I assume, that big, because he has to have some confidence, that he can defend himself properly and get away if situation backfires. Or then he was just one crazy bear with real mental issues.... that kind of surprising incidents are part of it why wildlife is so interesting. Reply