Tiger Directory

[Apollo]

Credits to gypsy diaries.


The story behind Bheem's encounter with Bhagoda and Bamera.


At the entrance to Bandhavargh National Park, we saw an adult male tiger (Bhagoda) make his way into the park and out of sight....about 10 min later, a second male emerged (Bheem), following the first tiger's exact path, and with his fur puffed up at attention....it seemed that something was about to go down!

Below pic shows Bheem (Tarun) searching for Bhagoda. Remember Bheem came from Khtiauli into Bhagoda's territory to challenge him.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The second male (Bheem) catches up to the first (Bhagoda), and an uneasy, tense situation ensued - male tigers are solitary and control exclusive territory. Here, the second tiger is an upstart male who wants to challenge the incumbent for his territory. Engaging in a fight is very dangerous - while spoils are potentially available to the victor, a fight can leave one or both tigers wounded and unable to hunt or defend themselves.


Below pics show Bheem coming at Bhagoda

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Walking side by side....the incumbent did his best to completely ignore the challenger, while the challenger juked and invaded his personal space. Again, note how the challenger is puffed up, while the reigning champ is at ease.

This shows that Bheem was more dominant of the two.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The standoff continued, as they wandered off into a field, where the incumbent tiger (Bhagoda), distracted by the challenger ( Bheem), suddenly came face to face with a 2,000 lb. male Gaur (Indian Bison), who immediately stood to full height, stomped, snorted, and confronted the tiger. (at this point, I put down my camera to watch - luckily, our lodge owner kept shooting, and this and the next 3 pics are his - very grateful that he was willing to share)

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Having made his point, the Gaur stormed ahead and eventually came to a stop near our jeep - such an awesome and lucky thing to experience!


Around 30 min later, we came upon a third male (Bamera). This guy was quite old, and while once the territorial king, had lost some battles and was now surviving by going outside the park and taking down cattle.

The challenger (Bheem) from the previous pics had given up on the first tiger (Bhagoda), but had then encountered this guy (Bamera), and the two had engaged in a fight. The bloodied warrior Bamera looked tired, but still dignified.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Thats the full story. Reply