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Tiger Predation
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Many tigers, these days are crossing 250kg mark. And gaurs on average are 1000kg. Even up to 1250kg it is like 5 times their own weight. I have heard big cats can easily bring down prey that is 5 times their weight in a ngc document. In addition to this with element of surprise or with a striking bite to the top of neck with which the animal becomes motionless, the tiger seems to predate successfully on big game. With bite to top of neck, there is a case in which it killed rhino quickly.
@parvez
Gaurs come in many sizes, most females aren’t super impressive and well within the capabilities of most Tigers I’ve seen, the same for Cape buffalos and Lions. It’s the big Bulls of either species that are ah inspiring, it makes you realize the true strength of these big cats. But those feats of strength are usually outliers. 
he must have attacked the gaur earlier..it seemed already immobilized in the vid..he just came too finish it off
 (09-12-2018, 07:23 PM)Pckts Wrote: @parvez Gaurs are bigger animals than cape buffaloes (on average and at maximum). When it comes to Big Bulls it's gaurs all the way. I see many people try to fit gaurs and cape buffaloes in the same weight category, that's totally wrong. It's just like downsizing gaurs. We may compare water buffaloes to Gaurs but still they are smaller than gaurs. Here is a comparison made by Roflcopters I guess (not sure though). It gives us a rough idea on these animals.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Im not sure who created that actually, also Cape Buffalos and Gaurs should never be used in the same sentence considering the massive size difference between the two. like @Jimmy said earlier, some of the most skilled gaur specialists or i should say almost all the gaur specialists tend to attack from the rear. usually targetting the rear legs, once the gaur is down. tigers either go for the finish or in some cases they would eat the gaur alive.
@Rishi post #1382 excellent analysis of Raja’s gaur hunt video, Raja was a supreme predator and a very high ranked tiger in the world of tigers. I have read countless books, maybe almost majority of the books that are available to us and I have yet to read about a tiger as mighty as Raja. tigers for the most part avoid fighting to death, they usually like to fight it out and try to determine a victor. however the norm does not apply in parks where tiger density is high and less space for tigers to move around and relocate, conflict of interest is usually what results in a serious fight and in situations like these. only the strongest tiger survives most of the time: good example (the big four of Mukki) Kingfisher vs Chota Munna vs Bheema vs Umarpani, there were numerous battles between these four males but in the end. both Kingfisher and Bheema were eventually killed by Umarpani, it wasn’t the first or second fight that got rid of them. It was the increasing pressure that Umarpani felt violated his repeated warnings. the end result was inevitable, people knew someone would lose a life eventually. kingfisher was killed first, followed by Bheema. now both CM and Umarpani have a divided kingdom. that’s still two deaths linked to Umarpani and that earns him a fierce reputation. Raja, on the other hand is the only male i know that killed six rivals to retain his position. he thrived in a very high density park for nearly a decade untouched and undisputed, he was arguably the king of the South and he also had the biggest territory in Bandipur. It was only towards the end of 2015, when Basavanakatte applied some pressure to bag some of Raja’s prized territory and both father and son duo had a big piece of the pie within Bandipur tourism zone and some areas outside of the tourism zone. few months prior to Raja’s poaching incident, Raja was constantly following Kanana Darari male’s movements in an effort to intercept him and to possibly fight him. he had previously fought the intruder and beat him. I have no doubt in my mind that this encounter could have turned bloody. oh well, too bad Raja couldn’t escape the human assassins that were out to get him. over the years, Raja made many headlines. the female gaur killing video being one of them, also that video of Raja taking on domestic cattles that went viral. unlike the other Southern Tigers that are known to be camera-shy and highly elusive, Raja was used to the human presence and was exception to the rule. safe to say, he was the trend setter from the South. the only other male i could think of was the late Mastgudi male of Nagarhole, ironically he also died in a tragic accident. Basavanakatte male aka BSK aka Madhesha aka Gowri Shankar will hopefully fill the void in the coming years, he has been really good so far. just my two cents. (09-13-2018, 04:17 AM)Apollo Wrote:It's not that cut and dry, there are plenty of Capes that outsize Gaurs I saw, but yes you are correct, the largest of the Gaur Bulls definitely outsize the Largest of the Cape bulls for sure.(09-12-2018, 07:23 PM)Pckts Wrote: @parvez But they are very different looking animals, Capes are much more stout and round, Gaurs are much taller and narrower, especially in the rear section. The gigantic Gaurs are much harder to see, they tend to be on their own a lot more, the majority of Gaur cows and Cape cows are nothing special, at least when you are comparing them to their prime bull counter parts. But even that being said, a big bull Cape will outsize a smaller sized Gaur bull usually. Trust me, there is nothing small about a prime big bull Cape Buffalo, it is a massive beast and the same for a big bull Gaur, no bovine I have seen has compared to the biggest of bull Gaurs though, they are in a league of their own. One quick story on just how big some Cape Bulls are... While we were in the Crater, there was a group of large Bachelor Capes off in the distance, they were all laying down and there was a large group of jeeps sitting there with their binoculars out and we were wondering why, my guide who worked in the Crater for 5 years prior said that he though there was a Black Rhino laying near them, we sat there for a while until the large mound that we thought was a Rhino finally moved a little and then we say that it was actually just a large Cape Bull with his buddies. If guides who have been working there all their life can be confused by the size of a Cape, that just goes to show how large some can be.
Agree that.it may true for indian specimens.gaur come in many sizes.the case of southeast asian gaurs are often less documented.but their size always amaze us.there are some striking difference between indian and southeast asian specimens.Southeast Asian specimens are much bigger with massive dorsal ridge and more robust built.they can easily differentiated from indians by their relatively less wide horn span and much darker skin coat. The availability of optimal habitat may attributed to its bigger size
Even females posses great size From huai kha kaeng ws.thailand  *This image is copyright of its original author A bull from vietnam,compare with domestic one.  *This image is copyright of its original author Video showing herd with many females and a bull.(best for comparing with other species) from 6:30 (09-13-2018, 10:20 PM)Suhail Wrote: Agree that.it may true for indian specimens.gaur come in many sizes.the case of southeast asian gaurs are often less documented.but their size always amaze us.there are some striking difference between indian and southeast asian specimens.Southeast Asian specimens are much bigger with massive dorsal ridge and more robust built.they can easily differentiated from indians by their relatively less wide horn span and much darker skin coat. The availability of optimal habitat may attributed to its bigger size I think it has more to do with the minimal documentation of Indochinese tigers, while they are slightly smaller than their Bengal counterparts they still get to decent enough size to predate on Gaur of all sizes. I have my doubts that Gaur in southeast asia would be any larger than Gaur in Central India as well, if so I'm sure the differences would be minimal, but that's just my opinion of course. |
however the proof is undeniable!!! incredible hunt!
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