The Terai Tiger

[sanjay]

Eye to eye.
May 09, 2016, Corbett national park

Sharmili, the tigress was trying to catch the langur on the tree, as the prey with its offspring was cornered. For a few moments, neither moved from their precarious positions, knowing that every move would be tricky.

The tiger tried to inch ahead and suddenly, the langur took a risky leap and swung across below the tiger. This was too quick for Sharmili, who lost her balance and half managed a controlled fall from the tree. She seemed exhausted and in a shock after the humbling fall.

At dusk later that evening, we saw her stalk spotted deer, but she gave up after a mock charge.

Back at the forest rest house later that evening, we were discussing the events of the day with the forest guard and a filmmaking team who were stationed at Crobett. We learnt that Sharmili has lost a lower canine and has grown leaner over a couple of months.

The loss of the canine quite might be the reason why she chased such a small prey up the tree, where clearly risks overweighed returns. And could as well be the reason for her giving up the deer chase. Next day, she was seen with a langur kill, walking to a waterhole. What was the reason behind her climbing up the tree, we can only hypothesise.

Maybe, man is naive to understand all this. Nature is what it is. It's how the world was made. These creatures are not driven by reason, but only by their instinct to survive.

Video is already posted by @Pckts at http://wildfact.com/forum/topic-tiger-pr...1#pid21691

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All content and image is own by Rahul Matmari Reply