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Big cat and Bear tale
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A sub adult male tiger facing a sloth bear (Kanha or Satpuda) on MP Online's Forest Portal, forest.mponline.gov.in
©Nitish Mishra  *This image is copyright of its original author
Sanctuary Asia Wildlife Photography Awards 2019
Two young tiger & sloth bear encounter each other on a tree in Rajasthan's Ranthambhore National Park. The tiger was startled to find the bear up on his favourite haunt. The photograph, titled "Tree of Contention", was one of the 2 photographs to win the second prize. (Photo credit: Abhijit Sinha)  *This image is copyright of its original author
 (03-09-2020, 10:49 AM)Rishi Wrote: Sanctuary Asia Wildlife Photography Awards 2019  (03-09-2020, 04:40 PM)Pckts Wrote:(03-09-2020, 10:49 AM)Rishi Wrote: Sanctuary Asia Wildlife Photography Awards 2019 This was funny incident, here is an article and also a video clip showing how that bear is there like nothing to worry about and then suddenly notices like: "WTF, what´s that striped cat doing here??!!??!!" :) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7157335/Bear-vs-tiger-Tree-dwelling-cub-fights-ambitious-big-cat-tries-dinner.html 
Just one question guys, are the tigers name Dale and Misha one and the same? Some posters say there are two different tigers. Thanks for your help.
 (03-10-2020, 02:18 PM)GreenGrolar Wrote: Just one question guys, are the tigers name Dale and Misha one and the same? Some posters say there are two different tigers. Thanks for your help. Misha - Dale - M20 - T20 is the same male tiger. Interestingly, that was also the largest tiger captured by the Siberian Tiger Project with 205 kg and also is the tiger that killed more bears. Sadly it died when he fall in a frozen pool and died, they found him frozen in the water. (03-09-2020, 07:42 PM)Shadow Wrote: This was funny incident, here is an article and also a video clip showing how that bear is there like nothing to worry about and then suddenly notices like: "WTF, what´s that striped cat doing here??!!??!!" :) The relation between sloth bears and tigers is complicated. In some areas tigers kill and hunt those bears, like Panna or Pench, but in other areas like Nagarahole they just ignore them. Interestingly in Ranthambore the bears almost dominate tigers! Valmik Thapar hipotesize that probably that is a learned behaviour and as the mothers are afraid of the bears, her sons (males and females, independently of the size) also do not develop the corage to face and even kill them, so when they face them they normally run away. (03-10-2020, 10:08 PM)GuateGojira Wrote:sloth bears chase tigers in any reserve it's nothing unique in ranthambore idk about sloth bears dominating tigers there because that would involve them bulling tigers of their kills which i've yet to see and tigers have killed and eaten sloth bears in ranthambore here this is the usual outcome when they chase a tiger(03-09-2020, 07:42 PM)Shadow Wrote: This was funny incident, here is an article and also a video clip showing how that bear is there like nothing to worry about and then suddenly notices like: "WTF, what´s that striped cat doing here??!!??!!" :) (03-10-2020, 11:37 PM)Rage2277 Wrote:(03-10-2020, 10:08 PM)GuateGojira Wrote:sloth bears chase tigers in any reserve it's nothing unique in ranthambore idk about sloth bears dominating tigers there because that would involve them bulling tigers of their kills which i've yet to see and tigers have killed and eaten sloth bears in ranthambore here this is the usual outcome when they chase a tiger(03-09-2020, 07:42 PM)Shadow Wrote: This was funny incident, here is an article and also a video clip showing how that bear is there like nothing to worry about and then suddenly notices like: "WTF, what´s that striped cat doing here??!!??!!" :) Sloth bears do seem to be more present in Tadoba and Ranthambore as compared to Kanha for some reason, my guess is the amount of large males in Kanhas tourism zones. 
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)" K.Yoganand, 2005, “Behavioural Ecology of Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) In Panna National Park, Central India”, thesis PhD, Saurashtra University "We never observed Sloth bears eating carrion or preying on other mammals. McDougal (pers. comm.) who conducted an extensive tiger baiting programme in Western Chitawan reported only one instance of a Sloth bear feeding from a buffalo killed by a tiger. Sanderson (1890) reported that occasionally Sloth bears scavenged tiger kills and gnawed on cattle bones" A. Laurie,J. Seidensticker 1976 "Behavioural ecology of the Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus)"
There are equal number of clips of sloth bears scampering off from tigers too, but ofcourse they are wary of each other. Sloth bears are practically oversized honeybadgers!.. While they may not be an actual threat to a tiger's life, nor mess with tigers unless they have to, but they live their lives with this motto.
 *This image is copyright of its original author But this is not a very welcome sight for any tiger, especially if followed by it charging headlong with a "khuwaaaaaaaa, khaw khaaa khaa" scream.  *This image is copyright of its original author (03-10-2020, 11:37 PM)Rage2277 Wrote: sloth bears chase tigers in any reserve it's nothing unique in ranthambore idk about sloth bears dominating tigers there because that would involve them bulling tigers of their kills which i've yet to see and tigers have killed and eaten sloth bears in ranthambore here this is the usual outcome when they chase a tiger Brave kid... I noticed it's the subadults & young-adults in their bravado that tend to hold their grounds in a faceoff, from Broken tail & the above to one's in previous posts or Wagdoh's son. Adult males like T-57, T-24 have broken & fled. Taking down sloth bears is like gaur hunting, not everyone is a by-default bear hunter. There's a learning curve. Matkasur seemed to know exactly what he was doing, just too hot day. That engaging & disengaging away seems to be an intentional tactics out of experience, given how he kept following her after, as bears have serveral times more stamina than them. (03-11-2020, 08:33 AM)Rishi Wrote: There are equal number of clips of sloth bears scampering off from tigers too, but ofcourse they are wary of each other. Sloth bears are practically oversized honeybadgers! While they may not be an actual threat to a tiger's life, nor mess with tigers unless they have to, but they live theirs with this motto. Sloth bears are interesting animals. Sometimes they are so funny to watch, that it´s difficult to remember how dangerous they can be, especially to people. When talking about their relationship with tigers, it´s clear that they are smaller species and in big trouble if tiger attacks. Only exceptionally big male sloth bears have a chance to really fight with a tiger in a way, that it´s really serious for a tiger too and can lead to mortal injuries. Knowing that, that how big underdog sloth bear is in comparison with tigers, it´s time to time astonishing to see how sloppy and nonchalant they can be, sitting on a tree, drinking or eating like there would be nothing to worry about in the world. And then they suddenly notice, that there is a human or a gaur or a tiger right next to them :) Those reactions on some clips are priceless!! Sloth bears can for sure cause some nasty wounds to tigers in some occasions, but knowing that they would lose something like 95% of fights if serious, their way to do things is very funny, imo. In so many situations in environments keeping all other animals alert, they can do their own things so, that they don´t seem to see, hear or smell anything around them :) (03-10-2020, 11:37 PM)Rage2277 Wrote: sloth bears chase tigers in any reserve it's nothing unique in ranthambore idk about sloth bears dominating tigers there because that would involve them bulling tigers of their kills which i've yet to see and tigers have killed and eaten sloth bears in ranthambore here this is the usual outcome when they chase a tiger Been honest I don't know of any report of sloth bears chasing tigers in other areas, probably they are, but I had not see them. Now about the relation about sloth bears and tigers in Ranthambore, here is what the late Fateh Singh Rathore has to say:  *This image is copyright of its original author Yes, it is in the book of Valmik Thapar "Tiger Ultimate Guide" (page 142) of 2004, but it was Mr Fateh who said that. Sorry for the confusion. Now, this is what Valmik Thapar said in his book "Tiger Portrait of a Predator" in 1986:  *This image is copyright of its original author Interestingly, Stephen Mills in his book "Tigers" of 2004 provide a report of a Chitwan tiger that had a particular taste for sloth bears:  *This image is copyright of its original author Richard Perry in the book "The World of the Tiger" of 1965 provide a few remarks, all in favor of the tiger:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Sankhala in his book "Tiger! The Story of the Indian Tiger" of 1977, also provided a few remarks:  *This image is copyright of its original author So, it is pretty clear that tigers and sloth bears will try to aviod each other, but if the tiger has the change it will hunt and eat the bear, which means that tiger normally dominate over the sloth bear, but the bear been also very agressive can return the attack and like some videos show, the tiger will retreat, even adults. The case of Ranthambore is interesting, maybe the conclution of Mr Fateh is allready old for these days, but his observations are remarkable at 2004. (03-11-2020, 11:06 PM)GuateGojira Wrote:"I have found evidences of active avoidance of tigers by sloth bears and relatively frequent vigilance behaviour in bears (personal observations) in Panna NP."(03-10-2020, 11:37 PM)Rage2277 Wrote: sloth bears chase tigers in any reserve it's nothing unique in ranthambore idk about sloth bears dominating tigers there because that would involve them bulling tigers of their kills which i've yet to see and tigers have killed and eaten sloth bears in ranthambore here this is the usual outcome when they chase a tiger 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)" K.Yoganand, 2005, “Behavioural Ecology of Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) In Panna National Park, Central India”, thesis PhD, Saurashtra Universit |
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