Predation of Adult Rhino By Kaziranga Tigers: WII Expert Rabin Sharma’s Documentation

[Shadow]

(11-19-2019, 12:14 AM)Pckts Wrote:

(11-18-2019, 11:41 PM)Shadow Wrote:

(11-18-2019, 10:41 PM)Pckts Wrote:

(11-18-2019, 10:47 AM)Shadow Wrote: One more photo concerning that 600 kg (estimated by Sharma) calf carcass. This photo shows in more clear way eaten part of it.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Big animal, definitely not what I'd consider to be a calf but certainly not full grown either.
Also like Rishi said, very rare for Tigers to start with the front, usually they prefer the rump but with a Rhino it may not matter.

Photos of this calf are good examples how perspective can make same carcass to look like small and big depending about is, that is object or animal used to comparison in front or behind.

Big carcass:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Small carcass:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Big carcass:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Those photos are the reason why I trust mostly to it, what Sharma say, 600 kg heavy and that means a calf about 1 years old or a bit older. Nice prey and a lot of eat for a tiger.

There is a big difference between a Tiger and Human being, of course a carcass will look smaller in front of a Tiger compared to a human and it never looked small to me even with the Tiger in front of the Carcass and the People behind the carcass. 
That's a big animal, a 600kg animal with that much meat removed (estimated) is huge, it's as large as most Buffalo bulls and if you've ever seen a Cape buffalo, you know they are big animals. 
In regards to it's age, I'm not sure if it's a year or a couple of years, since I assume the only thing you're going off of was the post about a 600kg Rhino in captivity celebrating it's first bday, but I've already posted a few animals that are being weighed and you can see just how large a 200kg Rhino is, something that is 3-4 times their size will most likely need more time to grow into it. 
Here you can see a one year old Rhino estimated to be 857lbs or 388kg 

"Baby White Rhino "Sawyer" Turns 1!

Rhinoceros baby celebrates his birthday with rhino sized treats

Natural Bridge, VA – August 24th – It's been one year since the Virginia Safari Park welcomed its first baby white rhinoceros, a monumental birth for a critically endangered species. The healthy baby boy was born after a 16-month pregnancy to “Samira” a 6 year-old female. Baby Sawyer weighed about 100 pounds at birth and has gained weight steadily. His zookeepers estimate he weighs roughly 875 pounds today, which is still relatively small compared to the weights of adult females like his mother, Samira, who weigh roughly 3,000 to 4,000 pounds and adult males that can weigh up to 5,000 pounds."
http://www.virginiasafaripark.com/News/TabId/226/ArtMID/1002/ArticleID/26/Baby-White-Rhino-Sawyer-Turns-1.aspx

and here is another one year old in the 800lb area

"February 7 calls for celebration--at least at Cleveland's Metropolitan Zoo. 

The Zoo is celebrating the first birthday of baby rhino Lulu. 

Gaining 850 pounds in one year, the zoo says Lulu is thriving. "

In honor of Lulu's special day and throwback Thursday, the zoo posted photos from her first mud bath.

https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/happy-birthday-rhino-at-cleveland-zoo-turns-1-year-old/95-c9301406-5a65-4198-b3f3-6244f5103a08#:~:targetText=February%207%20calls%20for%20celebration,from%20her%20first%20mud%20bath.

And this is a 1 year old Wild Rhino

My guess would be that Rhino is older than 1 for sure, it's a large animal.
Especially if it's mother was no longer with it, it most certainly was older than that.

This is very simple actually, here were posted two cases concerning adult rhinos and one was a calf because too small to be something else if we trust Sharma and his weight estimation.

Why calf?

"The calf stays with its mother for about two to three years. Male calves tend to leave their mother sooner than their female counterparts."
https://www.rhinosinfo.com/rhino-birth-and-care-of-the-young.html

"At around 3 years old, the calf will set out on its own. A rhino can live up to 45 years."
https://www.livescience.com/27439-rhinos.html

 "Calves live with their mothers for several years. Females are full-grown at 6½ years and males at about 10 years. Rhinos reach sexual maturity at six to eight years of age."
http://www.torontozoo.com/animals/Greater%20one-horned%20rhinoceros

"Maternal calves: a calf drinks on average 20-30 litres of milk per day and grows by 1-2 kg daily. They start nibbling and feeding on roughage at the age of 3-5 months, but may continue to suck up to the age of 20 months. Young calves are also vulnerable to the predation of tigers in the wild"
https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino-info/rhino-species/greater-one-horned-rhino/

"The calves were rescued in Kaziranga National Park (NP) when they were about one to five months old when they were swept away by flood waters. The calves were hand reared and nursed at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) with the aim of releasing them into their natural habitat. They were fed human milk formula until they reached two years of age, and then with concentrates and greens in paddocks in CWRC. At the age of about three years the calves were translocated to Manas NP, about 500 km away from Kaziranga and placed in a pre-release area measuring 600 acres."
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287892702_Rehabilitation_of_greater_one-horned_rhinoceros_calves_in_Manas_National_Park_a_World_Heritage_Site_in_India

I think, that we can safely use the word calf in this case when we look how professional sources define that word when talking about rhinos.

And why mother not with a calf in Kaziranga...

" Flooding is the major cause of displacement of rhino calves in Kaziranga NP. In a few cases, calves were found alone in the forest for unknown reasons; a few were orphans after poachers killed their mothers, others were failed predation attempts. CRWC took in all these rhinos for treatment and care."
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287892702_Rehabilitation_of_greater_one-horned_rhinoceros_calves_in_Manas_National_Park_a_World_Heritage_Site_in_India

Debates are ok, but what comes to definition of rhino calf, time to end it. Also it should be clear, that calves do get separated from their mothers and that makes them very vulnerable. Where a 600-800 kg buffalos or gaurs are formidable opponents, same sized rhino calf is... just a kid. When alone.... lost, scared and confused, there is nothing to debate in these things.

Only thing is, that does someone want to question weight estimation of Sharma and by that say, that this third case was adult rhino too. I see there a carcass with only some flesh missing from neck area. It looks like a good time to focus to cases with adult rhinos. Reply