Tiger Predation

[Pckts]

(06-25-2022, 12:22 PM)Roflcopters Wrote: I can’t believe this is even a debate, it’s always some bear fan in the mix that thinks these bears are some invincible creatures walking freely in paradise without ever getting touched but reality is far different than what some fanboys like to believe. for starters, sloth bears and tigers generally avoid each other and in a serious encounter between the two. sloth bears are nothing more than a food source for the tigers that specialize in bear killing. Ravan, Kala Pahad male of Pench, Charger (Pench), Wagdoh, Jabbar and countless Kanha males have been observed killing and eating sloth bears and this is just the tip of the iceberg, let’s say i’m reaching. just this month alone, T-120 of Ranthambore and the dominant male of Chuka beach in Pilibhit were both observed killing and feasting on sloth bears. so how rare is this occurrence, who’s dominant over what? pretty one sided debate if i’m being realistic. pardon the tone.

There’s been 1 documented encounter of a Tiger killing a sloth Bear in Kanha that I’m aware of. And of all the male tigers mentioned none of the Bears were male or particularly large except for possibly T-120s. And no one said Tigers don’t hunt or kill Sloth Bears. The debate was over the fanatical claim that a Male Bear is no threat to a Tiger at all and there was no instance of Bears running off male Tigers. 
Both claims are obviously false as there are numerous videos and photos of Adult Male Tigers being ran off by smaller female bears and even more videos of adult Tigers of both sexes being ran off by Bears. 
This idea that because the Tiger hunts an animal also means that they dominate it is wrong. Lions hunt Cape Buffalo but you can bet a male Cape will dominate a Lion more often than not and the same holds true with a Gaur and Tiger. 

Next is @apex titan posted an Amur Tiger study with the mention of Bear appearing more during the spring months. The problem is that if you actually read that study you find out it’s only in regards to scat sample which again doesn’t segregate age/sex/health or how the incident occurs or if the prey was even alive when the predator happened upon it. Scats can also be bias towards larger prey since they stay in the system longer and cluster together over an extended period of time. Meaning larger prey items tend to show up more than smaller ones that are out of the system fast and tougher to track. Also noted in the study is the vulnerability of young during those months which could also contribute to predation bias. Some people like to lump all kills into healthy adults but like with most other dangerous game, a big cat will generally prefer a weaker individual of that species.

At the end of the day anyone who thinks a Tiger is going to easily dominate a Big male Sloth Bear is wrong. Can a Tiger kill one, absolutely but is that going to happen every time? Not a chance, the bear will also defeat the Tiger as well. Tigers being a solitary predator make them quicker to disengage when not fighting for mating rights, which again favor the bolder Bear. Reply