John Varty & Tiger Canyon

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John Varty Newsletter
Instinct versus Learnt
I have wondered for many years what is instinct and what is learnt in the Tiger world.
In August 2015, the male Tiger, Mahindra left his territory and found the male tiger Sariska sleeping. He killed him on the ground with a bite behind the ear.
At the same time Sariska was the father of a litter of cubs which included the male cub Bird. (Bird is named because of a pattern of a flying eagle on his forehead).
Bird’s mother, Tibo, was now left with no protection for her cubs (The litter was Bird, Shamilee and Oksana).
I fully expected Mahindra to kill Tibo’s cubs which is the norm for male tigers who are not the father. However, Mahindra took over the father role of Tibo’s cubs and protected them. (The reason is that Mahindra is Tibo’s brother and therefore he is genetically invested in her cubs).
In short Mahindra spared Bird's life when he took over the father role. Therefore, it is difficult to understand why Bird four years later would turn on Mahindra, his foster father and assist Sunderban, the territorial male, to kill Mahindra.
In the dark the two male tigers, Mahindra and Sunderban, engaged in a brutal fight. It appeared to me that the two male tigers were evenly matched. The balance of power shifted when Bird entered the fight. (Bird is 225 kilograms in weight and bigger than both Sunderban and Mahindra. However, Bird is only 4 years old and not as experienced at fighting). I would have thought Bird would have sided with Mahindra, but he supports Sunderban instead.
As Sunderban attacks from the front, Bird goes to the rear and bites Mahindra through the spine, effectively crippling him. Now Sunderban is able to overpower Mahindra and throttle him to death.
The questions I ask are, how at the age of 4 years old, does Bird know that a spinal bite will render Mahindra helpless? Does Bird instinctively know that Mahindra killed his father Sariska and he is taking revenge? Why does Bird not side with the male tiger that effectively saved his life when Bird was a cub?
The answer I believe lies in none of the above. Bird has formed a coalition with Sunderban. (Bird became bigger than Sunderban before he dispersed and Sunderban was unable to expel him from the territory.)
When Sunderban could not expel Bird from the territory, he did the expedient thing, he formed a coalition with him. Sunderban suffers from cryptorchidism (This is a condition where the testicles sit inside and not outside the male’s body).
Sunderban mates with females, but his stamina is not at the level of other Male Tigers (The cryptorchidism has left Sunderban with low levels of testosterone.)
In recent matings, as Sunderban tires, Bird has been able to take over the mating and inject his genes into the system. 
If Mahindra had won the fight, Mahindra would have monopolized the mating and there would be no opportunity for Bird to mate. Therefore, it is in Bird’s interest to kill Mahindra, not Sunderban.
I would like to thank all of you who stayed in the Tigress Julie Lodge in 2017 and invite everyone to visit us in 2018.
2018 Promises to be a bumper year photographically. 
I urge you all in 2018 to try to cut down on your use of plastic and also explore ways of moving our motor cars away from fossil fuels.
Wishing you a Healthy New Year.
Tread Lightly on the Earth
JV
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.jvbigcats.co.za

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