Tiger Predation

[Roflcopters]

Im not sure who created that actually, also Cape Buffalos and Gaurs should never be used in the same sentence considering the massive size difference between the two. like @Jimmy said earlier, some of the most skilled gaur specialists or i should say almost all the gaur specialists tend to attack from the rear. usually targetting the rear legs, once the gaur is down. tigers either go for the finish or in some cases they would eat the gaur alive.



@Rishi 

post #1382 

excellent analysis of Raja’s gaur hunt video, Raja was a supreme predator and a very high ranked tiger in the world of tigers. I have read countless books, maybe almost majority of the books that are available to us and I have yet to read about a tiger as mighty as Raja. tigers for the most part avoid fighting to death, they usually like to fight it out and try to determine a victor. however the norm does not apply in parks where tiger density is high and less space for tigers to move around and relocate, conflict of interest is usually what results in a serious fight and in situations like these. only the strongest tiger survives most of the time: good example (the big four of Mukki) Kingfisher vs Chota Munna vs Bheema vs Umarpani, there were numerous battles between these four males but in the end. both Kingfisher and Bheema were eventually killed by Umarpani, it wasn’t the first or second fight that got rid of them. It was the increasing pressure that Umarpani felt violated his repeated warnings. the end result was inevitable, people knew someone would lose a life eventually. kingfisher was killed first, followed by Bheema. now both CM and Umarpani have a divided kingdom. that’s still two deaths linked to Umarpani and that earns him a fierce reputation. Raja, on the other hand is the only male i know that killed six rivals to retain his position. he thrived in a very high density park for nearly a decade untouched and undisputed, he was arguably the king of the South and he also had the biggest territory in Bandipur. It was only towards the end of 2015, when Basavanakatte applied some pressure to bag some of Raja’s prized territory and both father and son duo had a big piece of the pie within Bandipur tourism zone and some areas outside of the tourism zone. few months prior to Raja’s poaching incident, Raja was constantly following Kanana Darari male’s movements in an effort to intercept him and to possibly fight him. he had previously fought the intruder and beat him. I have no doubt in my mind that this encounter could have turned bloody. oh well, too bad Raja couldn’t escape the human assassins that were out to get him. over the years, Raja made many headlines. the female gaur killing video being one of them, also that video of Raja taking on domestic cattles that went viral. unlike the other Southern Tigers that are known to be camera-shy and highly elusive, Raja was used to the human presence and was exception to the rule. safe to say, he was the trend setter from the South. the only other male i could think of was the late Mastgudi male of Nagarhole, ironically he also died in a tragic accident. Basavanakatte male aka BSK aka Madhesha aka Gowri Shankar will hopefully fill the void in the coming years, he has been really good so far. just my two cents.  Reply