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Big cat and Bear tale

Russian Federation Diamir2 Offline
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"Presence of porcupine remains in the scats of tiger reflects the ability of tiger to hunt this aggressive prey species. Similar observations have also been reported from Mudumalai on tiger which fed upon sloth bear (Swaminathan et al. 2002)"                                                                                                      

 Prey preference of large carnivores in Anamalai Tiger Reserve, India                                              Arumugam Kumaraguru & R. Saravanamuthu & K. Brinda & S. Asokan      
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Finland Shadow Offline
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( This post was last modified: 03-12-2020, 08:13 AM by Rishi )

(03-11-2020, 11:57 PM)Diamir2 Wrote: bears avoid tigers, the opposite is not true

Here is no true or false in that way, that there would be some absolutes. Do sloth bears actively seek tigers to go "hang around"? 
No, of course not. 

Do they then again always run away, when seeing a tiger? 
Nope, as many clips show, they can do quite the opposite and tiger can be the one fleeing. Do they avoid areas in which tigers live? Obviously no, again more than enough proof, that they co-exist quite fine.

Then again it´s clear that tigers are threat to sloth bears and sloth bears won´t search fights with tigers. That would be crazy with that kind of overall size difference. Whenever they have conflict with tigers it´s because tiger has approached so close, that sloth bear has no other choice but to act defensively. Any animal feeling cornered in some way acts in the same way.

Then again if we talk about bears overall, we have Asiatic black bears and brown bears, who actually follow tigers many times in order to find tiger kills and get "free food". So it´s again very clear, that bears in general don´t avoid tigers, quite the opposite. Then again only brown bears are big and strong enough to have on purpose direct confrontation with tigers. Maybe some big Asiatic black bear males can challenge tigresses, but with male tigers only other land predator big and strong enough to make that challenge is adult male brown bear. Well, a male lion would be another, but at the moment they don´t meet in the wild.

So this matter is a bit complicated and depends about what bears we are talking about. One fascinating thing in wildlife is, that there are very few absolute truths. But it´s clear, that if talking about bears overall, not all bears avoid tigers. Even though sloth bears and Asiatic black bears are clear underdogs in confrontations with tigers if situation leads to real fight. And for sure sloth bears won´t follow tigers, they can be sloppy, funny and very nonchalant, but I haven´t seen or heard them to show suicidal tendencies....
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United States Pckts Offline
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(03-12-2020, 12:18 AM)Diamir2 Wrote:
(03-12-2020, 12:15 AM)GuateGojira Wrote:
(03-12-2020, 12:00 AM)Pckts Wrote: Matkasur isn't a large Tiger but he's significantly larger than that Bear. A side note, I'd still say Matkasur is in the 200kg range, assuming he's similar to his dad but with a bulkier frame. 
But I saw a Male Sloth Bear in Taboba that was massive, Sloth Bear size is underestimated IMO.

Huge sloth bears were found in the past, so I see no reason to see big bears in these days.

Yes, the tiger looks massive although shorter. Maybe the double the size of the female bear or a little more. Even then, a bigger (and more decided) tiger will make a shorter work, even for such a defensive female.


"The only thing that saves the bear is the hair on the body, because tiger doesn't get a grip," Dr Andheria explains.

We've already seen Sloth Bears run off both Male and Female Tigers, let's not under appreciate the Bears abilities for the sake of a Tiger.
They live together and have been dealing with one another throughout history and a Bear doesn't use the advantage of numbers to warn him nor does he have the fleet footedness to avoid the Tiger, they obviously share a common place in the Hierarchy, a Tiger is an Apex predator and sits atop that Pyramid but a Bear isn't far and more often than not they seem to be level ground in terms of respect shared.
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Guatemala GuateGojira Offline
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(03-12-2020, 12:25 AM)Diamir2 Wrote: So what?

Did I need to explain to you with little draws?

You continue puting copy-pasted paragraphs from a thesis made in Panna, I allready shows and confirmed that the tiger in Panna eat sloth bears. Latter you put a part where it mentions that sloth bears have the same behaviour in Chitwan, but I allready showed in post 390 that is correct because tigers eat sloth bears in Chitwan.

So, the point is what are you trying to prove?


I advise you, again, read my entire posts, not only what I put, but also READ the images, take the time to assimilate the information and then make a new post. The information that I post is not what I "think", but what is stated by experts in the field.
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Russian Federation Diamir2 Offline
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(03-12-2020, 12:29 AM)Diamir2 Wrote:
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"Presence of porcupine remains in the scats of tiger reflects the ability of tiger to hunt this aggressive prey species. Similar observations have also been reported from Mudumalai on tiger which fed upon sloth bear (Swaminathan et al. 2002)"                                                                                                      

 Prey preference of large carnivores in Anamalai Tiger Reserve, India                                              Arumugam Kumaraguru & R. Saravanamuthu & K. Brinda & S. Asokan      

tigers  in Panna are no different from others
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Russian Federation Diamir2 Offline
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( This post was last modified: 03-12-2020, 11:55 AM by Rishi )

Repost #186. & #300

 Both deleted.
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Finland Shadow Offline
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(03-11-2020, 11:36 PM)GuateGojira Wrote:
(03-11-2020, 12:07 AM)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:

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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:

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Interestingly, Stephen Mills in his book "Tigers" of 2004 provide a report of a Chitwan tiger that had a particular taste for sloth bears:

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Richard Perry in the book "The World of the Tiger" of 1965 provide a few remarks, all in favor of the tiger:

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*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:

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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.

That what Fateh Singh observed was interesting. It feels quite safe to assume, that sloth bears (with time and experience, so adults) have ability to notice if they meet young tigers which show insecurity and take advantage of it. That arrogant behavior feels right only if really big male sloth bear with a lot of experience and tiger showing some signs of insecurity. I assume, that big, because he has to have some confidence, that he can defend himself properly and get away if situation backfires. Or then he was just one crazy bear with real mental issues.... that kind of surprising incidents are part of it why wildlife is so interesting.
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United States Pckts Offline
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(03-12-2020, 12:33 AM)Diamir2 Wrote:
(03-12-2020, 12:29 AM)Diamir2 Wrote:
*This image is copyright of its original author

"Presence of porcupine remains in the scats of tiger reflects the ability of tiger to hunt this aggressive prey species. Similar observations have also been reported from Mudumalai on tiger which fed upon sloth bear (Swaminathan et al. 2002)"                                                                                                      

 Prey preference of large carnivores in Anamalai Tiger Reserve, India                                              Arumugam Kumaraguru & R. Saravanamuthu & K. Brinda & S. Asokan      

tigers  in Panna are no different from others

Tigers can be very different depending on the location.
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Rishi Offline
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( This post was last modified: 03-12-2020, 06:25 PM by Rishi )

(03-12-2020, 12:18 AM)Diamir2 Wrote: "The only thing that saves the bear is the hair on the body, because tiger doesn't get a grip," Dr Andheria explains.

That this without saying (probably for lion's mane too). Conpared to body, sloth have larger neck & back hair than any other bear.

(03-12-2020, 12:15 AM)GuateGojira Wrote: Yes, the tiger looks massive although shorter. Maybe the double the size of the female bear or a little more. Even then, a bigger (and more decided) tiger will make a shorter work, even for such a defensive female.

That bear was a small specimen too. Large female bears can be larger than an average tigress (including fur), probably not heavier though. If they can keep their throats safe from a choke hold, bears can tire out any cat. It's basically a race against time for them. They have a tendency to go for eyes & nose in attack victims, may be evolutionary behaviour.

I found a rare one from Nagarhole in South India. (TripAdvisor

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(03-12-2020, 01:08 AM)Shadow Wrote:
(03-11-2020, 11:36 PM)GuateGojira Wrote: 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. 

That what Fateh Singh observed was interesting. It feels quite safe to assume, that sloth bears (with time and experience, so adults) have ability to notice if they meet young tigers which show insecurity and take advantage of it. That arrogant behavior feels right only if really big male sloth bear with a lot of experience and tiger showing some signs of insecurity. I assume, that big, because he has to have some confidence, that he can defend himself properly and get away if situation backfires.
Or then he was just one crazy bear with real mental issues.... that kind of surprising incidents are part of it why wildlife is so interesting.

I'd say Guate is on the money here... I just binged through the whole thread yesterday & now it feels like their whole species is "one crazy bear with real mental issues". 
They do not initiate anything by themselves (other than being the only species that sometimes think its a good idea to drink from waterholes with tigers in sitting it) but when a tiger creeps close to it they invariably charge without thinking

Standoffs rarely escalate though, even when if a young tiger/tigress is crounching down or backing away.

...

Also, I see pretty serious bloody gashes on Matkasur. He could've broke off because the injuries weren't worth the meal (clearly didn't have much experience taking down bears like Wagdoh as @Pckts pointed out).

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Finland Shadow Offline
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(03-12-2020, 09:10 AM)Rishi Wrote:
(03-12-2020, 12:18 AM)Diamir2 Wrote: "The only thing that saves the bear is the hair on the body, because tiger doesn't get a grip," Dr Andheria explains.

That this without saying (probably for lion's mane too). Conpared to body, sloth have larger neck & back hair than any other bear.

(03-12-2020, 12:15 AM)GuateGojira Wrote: Yes, the tiger looks massive although shorter. Maybe the double the size of the female bear or a little more. Even then, a bigger (and more decided) tiger will make a shorter work, even for such a defensive female.

That bear was a small specimen too. Large female bears can be larger than an average tigress (including fur), probably not heavier though. If they can keep their throats safe from a choke hold, bears can tire out any cat. It's basically a race against time for them. They have a tendency to go for eyes & nose in attack victims, may be evolutionary behaviour.

I found a rare one from Nagarhole in South India. (TripAdvisor

*This image is copyright of its original author


(03-12-2020, 01:08 AM)Shadow Wrote:
(03-11-2020, 11:36 PM)GuateGojira Wrote: 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. 

That what Fateh Singh observed was interesting. It feels quite safe to assume, that sloth bears (with time and experience, so adults) have ability to notice if they meet young tigers which show insecurity and take advantage of it. That arrogant behavior feels right only if really big male sloth bear with a lot of experience and tiger showing some signs of insecurity. I assume, that big, because he has to have some confidence, that he can defend himself properly and get away if situation backfires.
Or then he was just one crazy bear with real mental issues.... that kind of surprising incidents are part of it why wildlife is so interesting.

I'd say Guate is on the money here... I just binged through the whole thread yesterday & now it feels like their whole species is "one crazy bear with real mental issues". 
They do not initiate anything by themselves (other than being the only species that sometimes think its a good idea to drink from waterholes with tigers in sitting it) but when a tiger creeps close to it they invariably charge without thinking

Standoffs rarely escalate though, even when if a young tiger/tigress is crounching down or backing away.

...

Also, I see pretty serious bloody gashes on Matkasur. He could've because the injuries weren't worth the meal. 

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:) I agree 100% that sloth bears aren´t there looking for trouble. They just act as they have to when threatened. They live there with tigers and leopards and dholes, there is no room to be soft when threatened, that would be simply suicidal.

When I wrote, that the bear which Fateh Singh observed was either knowing very well what it was doing or then mental case, that was of course half joke. But that kind of behavior is very dangerous, so half serious.

Then again their nonchalant behavior is simply funny to watch so often, it´s interesting to see how it can behave in such ways as it does. One of my absolutely favorite animals, let it be and it minds it´s own business :)
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Luipaard Offline
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Mutual respect, interesting.




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United States Pckts Offline
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Shanoj D. David
GOD FATHER OF TADOBA ..
W A G H D O H... with sloth bear kill..
Lohara Jungle.

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United States Pckts Offline
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Khali vs Sloth Bear

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/bbc-wildl...9939808784


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Finland Shadow Offline
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Asiatic black bear killed by a tiger.




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Finland Shadow Offline
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( This post was last modified: 12-03-2020, 02:00 PM by Shadow )

Older case from Ranthambore, October 2011. For some reason reporter writes about Asiatic black bear, but in photos it can be seen how a sloth bear mother charges approaching tiger while having two cubs on her back all the time. Was the tiger just passing by or did he have some thoughts to have a meal is unclear, but it´s clear that this mother bear didn´t like to see a tiger so close and she showed it.


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This summer photographer Aditya Singh witnessed a mother sloth bear fight off a tiger in the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in India. Singh caught the whole battle on camera in the following photo series. All photos by Aditya Singh


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Amazingly, this bear had already fought off another tiger just minutes before. By the time this tiger came around, a small group of tourists had gathered.


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The brawl lasted for about three minutes though neither the tiger nor the bear were severely injured. In the end, bear ran the tiger off.


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Some more photos and story here: https://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/galle...hts-tiger/
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