Tiger Predation

[Apex Titan]

@Tenebris 

Quote:1#. Tigers, generally, do not hunt sloth bears. (Richard lydekker, Panna and Chitral NP tiger's diet chart, Tej Kumar)

In some areas, sloth bears are often hunted and killed by tigers. Throughout history, there are countless accounts of tigers killing and eating sloth bears. The tiger is a natural predator of the sloth bear, a fact reported by biologists in scientific papers.

These cases are more common than you like to think.

Quote:2#. Tigers mostly avoid face-to-face confrontations with Sloth bears. (Altre edizioni, Francis leukel)

Sloth bears are known to flee from juvenile tigers and tigresses and also mostly avoid face-to-face confrontations with tigers. Why are you ignoring that part?

Quote:Sloth bears do not fear tigers abd tigers do not change their behaviour. Both do not have predator-prey relations. Tigers do not dominate and these bears roam without any tension. (Thapar, Garshiells, Yoganand)

Wrong. Sloth bears do fear tigers and thats why they always act defensively aggressive towards tigers before running away. They're afraid that the tiger will attack. The fact that tigers prey on adult sloth bears proves that tigers, overall, dominate sloth bears. Any predator that's well known to deliberately hunt, kill and eat another carnivore is a clear form of dominance.

Tigers do change sloth bear behaviour and this fact was observed by bear ecologist, K. Yoganand, who observed that sloth bears actively avoided tigers:

However, it is possible that the bears may be avoiding certain micro-habitats that tigers frequently use, or actively avoid tigers by avoiding places where they are present. I have found evidences of active avoidance of tigers by sloth bears and relatively frequent vigilance behaviour in bears (personal  observations) in Panna NP. My observations on interactions that sloth bears had with con-specifics, tigers and humans in Panna indicate that there are several responses that are common in these interactions, particularly in the way sloth bears reacted to both tigers and humans.

Sloth bears actively avoided tigers and humans when they became aware of their presence in advance. When they heard suspicious sounds made by humans, tigers, or even alarms raised by other animals such as sambar (Cervus unicolor) or common langur (Trachypithecus entellus) to the presence of predators or humans, the bears became vigilant. They paused their activity and waited for further sounds or scents, looked in the direction of the sound, or exhibited such vigilant behaviour.

When the bears sensed the presence of adversaries, they stopped their activity, moved in a different direction or even took shelter under secure cover. Sometimes, they did not emerge out of dens until long after their usual times of start of activity. Occasionally they also fled on sensing a threat, or at other times, they rushed towards the tiger or the human. 

Similar reactions were also observed in Chitwan NP, Nepal. At close quarters, sloth bears reacted to humans and tigers similarly, often by roaring and running away, or roaring and attacking before retreating (Laurie and Seidensticker 1977).

https://etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu...cience.pdf

Valmik Thapar (see my previous post to Pckts) said that in direct confrontation with tigers, its the bear that usually turns and flee's. And there are well known cases of tigers that were habitual bear-killers. 

Quote:Tigers always kill by ambush and in face on fights, tigers normally flee rather than fighing the aggressive bears as bears can injury them seriously. (Adele conover, Joshi, accounts)

There are numerous accounts of tigers killing sloth bears in face-to-face fights. A fact which you deliberately ignore. Not only are there accounts of tigers killing sloth bears in head-on fights, there's way more accounts of tigers killing brown bears in face-to-face fights. 

No, tigers do not "always" kill by ambush. There are plenty accounts throughout history of tigers killing large dangerous animals like adult gaur, large wild boars and bears in face-to-face fights. Not all ambushes result in a quick kill, sometimes the tiger ends up having to fight, subdue and kill its prey after a long prolonged battle.

Again, a well known documented fact which you deliberately ignore. I could post a whole landslide of accounts.

Quote:There are many cases of Sloth bears defeating tigers in face-to-face, head-on fight, including sometimes multiple tigers and adult males like Genghis, Khali and Matkasur. (Accounts from experts and many videis from Youtube)

What an exaggeration and lie. "Many cases" ??  Where? Show me the account where a sloth bear "defeated" the tiger 'Genghis'??  Thats nonsense.

"Multiple tigers"? Yeah, multiple young, inexperienced tigers (i.e. juveniles & adolescents). And getting chased away is not getting "defeated" in a fight. You are badly exaggerating here.

Quote:There is one unconfirmed case of mature male tiger killed by Sloth bear. (Bareilly)

Yes, an unconfirmed account of a "huge sloth bear" allegedly "killing" an old, weakened and withered 12 year old tiger. Not a healthy, mature male tiger. Why not give the context?

The tiger could have easily been killed by another tiger, which is more likely. The account is based on pure speculation, nothing more.

Quote:Sloth bears very rarely have been known to drive away tigers from their kills. (Valmik Thapar)

Yes, although I've never heard of a single case of a sloth bear ever driving even a young tiger or tigress from a kill.

Quote:In fights, between sloth bears and tigers, the match is often draw. (Yoganand)

Yes, but thats when the fight is not serious, only a short skirmish and mostly involves adult sloth bears vs young tigers and tigresses. 

In a serious fight to the death, history consistently shows over and over again, that the tiger always (100% of cases) kills and eats the bear.

Quote:In most sloth bear vs tiger fights, the large-hearted fighter bear has the upper hand. (Singinawa Jungle Lodge Reservation)

What do you consider a fight?  A little skirmish?  In a serious fight, the tiger always kills the bear. So what are you talking about? The Matkasur fight was an exception, in general, the bear would get killed. On top of that, Matkasur wasn't fully determined on killing the bear, had he been, he would have certainly killed the bear.

And I like how you deliberately ignore all the tons of accounts of tigers hunting and killing sloth bears and killing sloth bears in face-to-face fights. Why do you ignore all those accounts, misquote experts and try twist the facts? Reply