|
Big cat and Bear tale
|
 (04-27-2022, 02:40 AM)Spalea Wrote: @Apex Titan Sloth bears, in general, do fear and avoid tigers. Thats why in most cases, when confronted by an adult tiger, the bear either flee's or acts defensively aggressive trying to discourage the tiger from attacking. But overall, as tigers are natural predators of sloth bears, the bear has an innate fear of tigers. At best, a sloth bear and Himalayan black bear can fend off a semi-serious tiger attack. But in serious mortal combat with a tiger, the bear is always killed and eaten. This is what history consistently shows. Sloth bears and Himalayan black bears in a serious fight against a tiger is a mismatch in favor of the tiger. The tiger is just too big, too armed and too powerful for these species of bears. Even for the large male bears of these species. No doubt that sloth bears and Himalayan black bears are formidable and powerful animals, with some individuals reaching weights (especially the latter species) well over 400 lb. But overall, the tiger is much more formidable and powerful, hence why the tiger preys on these bears. The video you posted, clearly shows a tiger thats not fully determined to kill the bear. At points in the fight, it looks like the tiger is toying with the bear, easily pinning the bear down and not aggressively attacking. The tiger becomes disinterested and retreats back to the water hole, but he still achieved his goal. He kept the bears away from the water hole and the bears fled back into the jungle. If that tiger was fully committed to killing that sloth bear, it would have certainly done it. You need to understand, that sloth bear was literally fighting for its life, whereas the tiger was not, and thats how all fights between tigers and sloth bears/Himalayan black bears go. The bear is the one in mortal danger, never the tiger. The only bear species capable of defeating tigers in a serious fight to the death, are brown bears and polar bears, because these bears don't lack the size and strength to fight with tigers. Here's an example of a determined tiger easily killing a sloth bear: Even when adult male sloth bears spot a young tiger/tigress from a distance, the bear usually retreats to avoid a confrontation: Observations from wildlife ecologist, K. Yoganand, showed that sloth bears actively avoid 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://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Be...01a33db0ed Yoganand came across five cases of tigers killing sloth bears, and twice of eating them:  *This image is copyright of its original author https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EU3i...rs&f=false |
| Users browsing this thread: |
| 1 Guest(s) |