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

[Shadow]

(10-18-2018, 08:58 PM)peter Wrote: BROWN BEARS AND HIMALAYAN BLACK BEARS AS HUNTERS 

1 - Introduction

In the Russian Far East, tigers and bears are neighbours. Although we now know a bit more about the way they interact as a result of a long-term study and the articles published in the last two decades, tigers and bears still are largely an enigma. 

Quite many posters interested in tigers and bears seem to think that brown bears in particular are large, but clumsy scavengers quite unable to defend themselves against professional hunters like tigers. I don't know how they got to that opinion, but it's far from the truth.

On the internet, you can find many videos of brown bears hunting and killing large mammals. In spite of their size, adult bears are surprisingly fast and agile. They also have a lot of stamina. In the hunting department, they do very well. Brown bears hunt in spring in particular. During hibernation, they can lose up to 30% of their weight. In spring they need a lot of energy and the best way to get there is protein. In summer and autumn, when other food sources become available, bears switch to vegetables. The advantage of vegetables is no competition and availability. In terms of energy, no big investment is needed. This enables bears to fatten up for hibernation.       

Himalayan black bears, about half the size of brown bears in the Russian Far East, also hunt. We seldom hear about them, because brown bears get a lot more airplay. But the Russian Far East has many thousands of Himalayan black bears and males in particular hunt as well.

As it is about bears, I initially wanted to use one of the bear threads for this post. I decided against it, because it is of interest for those doing tigers and bears in the Russian Far East. Most clashes between tigers and bears happen in spring, when brown bears often visit tiger kills.       

2 - Brown bear and wild boar

The video below was posted in 2010 by Grahh, a bear poster involved in nearly all debates about tigers and bears in the Russian Far East in AVA (Yuku, now Tapatalk). The video was taken from a car and shows a brown bear struggling with a wild boar. The bear is seen standing on his hind legs most of the time. This position enabled him to use his weight and front limbs with great effect. Weight is an effective method in a struggle in that it often quickly exhausts the opponent.  

Some of those who saw videos of big cats struggling with large mammals could be a bit surprised about the method used by the brown bear. There's no crippling bite and a quick kill, but a struggle resulting in an exhausted wild boar unable to use his weapons. 

Brown bears often hunt big mammals, especially in spring. In spite of their size, they're fast and much more agile than many think. In the video, the bear left the scene before the boar was killed because he was disturbed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBDAOY3Qwnw

3 - Himalayan black bear and wild boar

In 1993, 'Tiger, deer and ginseng', written by V. Jankowski, was published (in Russian). This is the book in which the very large Sungari river tiger is discussed. During the debate about the tiger and the bear he had killed a few days before he was shot, Warsaw, Wolverine and WaveRiders posted translations of the part in which the tiger featured. These enabled me to get to a kind of reconstruction. I'll post it soon.

During a walk in a riverine forest, V. Jankowski saw a large wild boar. At least, that's what he thought. He shot the 'boar'. When he went over to see what had happened, he saw the wild boar. It turned out to be a well-fed male Himalayan black bear. The bear had killed a large male wild boar. It was the first time he saw a large wild boar killed by a Himalayan black bear.

Himalayan male bears average 130-140 kg., but individual variation is pronounced. Large males can reach 180-200 kg. Males of that size do not fear tigers and apparently are able to hunt as well.

This is Valery Jankowski with a large male Himalayan black bear he shot. I don't know if it is the bear mentioned in his book, but it shows that some males can reach a great size:  

*This image is copyright of its original author

   

4 - Finland

The last days, I've been discussing tigers and bears with a new member, Shadow. He's very informed in this department. Shadow is from Finland, where they have brown bears. My guess is they sizewise more or less compare to those in the Russian Far East. In spring, brown bears hunt mammals up to the size of an adult bull moose in Finland. Shadow saw the results. I invited him to tell us a bit more. You might be surprised about the abilities of brown bears.

Ok, I guess, that I have to write something here. Our bears are most likely a little bit smaller, than those are in far east of Russia. But true, bears hunt and kill moose
here, that is no news. They are capable to kill adult moose, male or female. Moose weight variates from 350-500 kg (500 kg a really big one). I have posted one case, where bear was estimated to be 150 kg and it killed moose bull after quite extraordinary fight (150 kg bear is small of course). I don´t write it again here. Brown bear in spring time is naturally in light condition, but if healthy, a very capable predator. If someone thinks, that brown bear is clumsy, just watch how they climb to trees when they want to do that. That is combination of agility, strength and sharp claws and also pretty big ones are able to do that. In really "massive" condition that might be a challenge, but relatively big ones still do that. And I think that much easier, than way smaller silverback gorilla for instance. Just to give a little bit perspective to this matter.


Of course bear is not as agile in late autumn than it is in spring and summer time. But thinking that it would be some clumsy "teddy bear" is a thing, what other wild animals for sure won´t do. If someone doubts hunting skills of bears, it is just lack of information. Luckily it isn´t dangerous, people are never too old to learn new things. Reply