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Tiger Predation
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 (09-02-2014, 06:32 PM)'Jubatus' Wrote: does anyone have an idea how many % gaurs are on the tigers Diet in Kabini? seems that many tigers there feeds on gaur´s! Not sure what the predation rate on Gaurs in Kabini are. Its extremely rare to catch a tigers predation on a gaur from begining to end. The Raja video was the only one caught from begining to end. But there are many accounts of Tiger predation on Bull gaur and images as well.
Here are some of the images and stories from this thread on bull gaur predation and attempts
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Cub eating a Guar/may be a buffalo  *This image is copyright of its original author Indo Tiger with Gaur Kill  *This image is copyright of its original author Gaur Killed by Tiger  *This image is copyright of its original author Looks to be a Feamale I think  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author =largeOdin Animals have an innate fear of humans, we have been hunting them for generations and they know that no good would come to them if they ever came too close to a man. Though a lot of animals visit our watering hole regularly, there are very few who feel comfortable out in the open grasslands that we have inside our farm. The Thirunelli Tusker, which is the biggest elephant in this area is one such animal and you can feel the arrogance oozing out of him when he walks around purposefully in the grassland, dismissing the lesser bulls just by his presence. Another equally majestic animal is who I call “Odin” the big bull Gaur. He is named after the one-eyed Norse God who gave up an eye in return for strength and wisdom, and yes, our Odin also has just one eye. Standing over 6 ft tall, weighing more than 1 ton in weight, Odin in his prime was the biggest bull in this area.  *This image is copyright of its original author Massive bull Gaur named Odin, with just one good eye  *This image is copyright of its original author He must be around 12 to 13 years old now, pretty old for a Gaur out in the wild and though he has lost much of his weight, he is still a formidable animal. I have been seeing him for the last 5 years, he’d come down during the evenings, graze by the edge of the watering hole before proceeding to drink his fill, he’d then look towards the cottages, hold his gaze for a while before moving back into the jungle. He was in his prime the first time I saw him, it was such a majestic animal with rippling muscles and an imposing gait. During my sojourns into the forest, I have seen him multiple times, grazing or resting under a tree. Most of the Gaurs would turn and bolt if they see a human approach, but not Odin, he would hold his ground knowing well that he had nothing to fear from a puny human. We both would look at each other, and we would keep a respectful distance before moving on. Gaurs are not very vocal animals, that is especially true in the evenings. So when I heard the distress-filled bellow coming from the edge of the forest at 8 in the night, I knew instinctively that something was wrong. I had seen Odin grazing in the grassland in the evening, and though he was past his prime, he was still a formidable opponent for any of the carnivores. A leopard wouldn’t dare attack a male Gaur, the wild dogs would be resting by this time and the only animal brave and strong enough to take on a mature Gaur is the Tiger. Yesterday night we had heard the Tiger call from close to the farm and during the early morning trek we saw huge pugmarks of the resident male Tiger, could it be that Odin had finally met his match? Then we heard the grunts of the Tiger mixed with the bellow of the Gaur, my fear was confirmed, it was clear that the battle was on. By the time I took the night-vision camera and raced to the watchtower, a few of our resident guests who had also heard the commotion were already there. We used the torch to see if we could see anything in the night. Apart from the alarmed spotted deer, we couldn’t see anything in the grassland, but we could still hear the battle-royale from the edge of the forest. At times the grunts would turn into thunderous roars, so it was clear that the Tiger had failed to deliver the killing blow – Tigers kill their prey by breaking the neck. Now that Odin knew that the threat was upon him, it was clear that he’d be wary of another attack to the neck and as Gaur’s usually do when attacked, he himself went into the attack mode. We could hear dry bamboo getting trampled under his weight as he was having a go at the Tiger using his massive horns. The Tiger had lost the surprise element as Odin knew that the attack was on, but the Tiger was still stronger, in his prime and the bull Gaur bull had just one eye. It was too much of a handicap to give away – surely, there was only one outcome to the end of this fight. After 10 minutes or so, the noise died out as quickly as it had started – only 2 things could have happened; Odin was dead or Odin, true to his name had outwitted the Tiger. If it was the latter, we knew that he’d come out into the grasslands once again because most of the animals feel safe close to human settlements. That is why you see spotted deer near human settlements inside the forest. We waited with baited breath, hoping to see a weary Odin limp back towards the watering hole. But there was no sign of Odin, perhaps it was the end of the majestic, bull Gaur that roamed the Thirunelly forests. Roam he would no more. After talking to the amazed guests, and telling them about what would have happened, I retired to my room. I was feeling dejected about Odin’s plight – but that is nature’s way, survival of the fittest. Odin was probably no match for the big resident male. (Boy.. how wrong was I!) I knew I wouldn’t sleep well that night, and by day-break I was up and ready with my camera and my trekking kit, and thankfully it was not raining. So at first light I headed out into the forest to see first-hand what had happened during the night. I reached the edge of the forest and in no time I could see where the battle had taken place. There were pools of blood, but there was no sign of Odin or the Cat. I scoured around to see if there was a drag mark, the Tiger, if it had made the kill would have dragged the Gaur deeper into the jungle. Odin was close to 1000kg, so he was far too heavy for a Tiger to lift, so it’d have left a distinct drag mark on the ground. I went around the area hoping that I wouldn’t see the mark and I was relieved when I didn’t. I could see the ground was trampled, large bamboo clumps were broken like twigs, there were pugmarks and hoofmarks everywhere – it was clear that both the beasts had not backed out of the fight and they both had a real go at each other. There was blood everywhere, it was a titanic battle between the Tiger and the Gaur.  *This image is copyright of its original author I decided to see where the animals had gone and it was not hard to find the two distinct trails, one of the Tiger and then of Odin and to my dismay, I could see that Odin had bled profusely as he moved deeper into the jungle. I kept following the track for close to 500 meters and then my heart sank when I saw the pugmark of the Tiger superimposed on Odin’s hoof mark, the Tiger had come back and had started trailing Odin once again. I had to be extra careful now as I was tracking an injured bull Gaur who wouldn’t like my approach, worse still, The Tiger could have killed the Gaur at night and perhaps he was guarding the kill and he wouldn’t take kindly to my approach either. I inched forward, stopping and listening for the sounds that would give away the presence of either of these animals. The blood trail was easy to follow and soon I reached a swamp where Odin had rested, though there were chunks of clotted blood on the ground, but it looked as though Odin was not as severely injured as I had earlier believed. The Tiger had also laid down perhaps 50 feet away from Odin, and they both had again gotten up and walked deeper into the jungle. I kept after them and wanted to know how it had ended. Soon I noticed that Odin had decided that he’d take a U-turn and come towards the farm once again! The Tiger had followed him as well. By this time I would have covered close to 2 kms and with every passing step I could see that the blood trail was getting thinner and thinner, which was a good sign! We crossed some rivulets on the way and soon I passed the mota-teak tree (the big-teak tree) which is just a few hundred meters from the farm. Where was Odin heading, I wondered as I kept following the track and then I realized that it was just Odin’s track the I was following, the Tiger had stopped the chase and I couldn’t see the Tiger’s pug mark anymore. Retracing a few paces, I could see that the Tiger had taken a forest path which went deeper into the jungle, perhaps he thought that he had no chance of surprising Odin again that night. I continued on hoping to see Odin ahead of me and just as I broke cover and entered the grassland inside our farm, I could see the familiar figure, that of Odin, standing by the edge of the grassland grazing as though nothing had happened! I stood there looking at the old warrior, admiring his courage and will to live, he outsmarted and outfought the big male Tiger, the wily old Odin! Odin was bleeding thanks to the attack last night, but the wounds weren’t life threatening  *This image is copyright of its original author The old bull Gaur – Odin with his battle scars  *This image is copyright of its original author I coughed so that he knew I was near. He lifted his massive head and looked at me through his good eye! He knew it was me as he held his gaze and we made eye-contact for a few seconds before he lowered his head and started grazing again. I could see the injuries he had sustained, a big piece of the muscular rump that he had on his back was bitten off and there were clear bite and claw marks on his shoulder and back. A small piece of his nose was also torn off, but the big bull had proved once again that it was not time for him to go, just yet. The Tiger had failed to get a grip on his neck and that had saved him. True to his name, he must have lost an eye, but in return he is blessed with extraordinary strength and wisdom. http://jungleretreatwayanad.com/blog/2013/07/  *This image is copyright of its original author Hers a few I can find 
thank you so much! Iknow it's hard to capture on film, but how amazing would that be to watch! a bull Gaur and a male tiger. even more interesting would be to watch a tiger and a massive water buffalo who is said to be more aggressive, but slightly smaller in weight!
the dominante male from kanha is that Munna?
Yes Munna was the King of Kahna, not sure if he still is. But I have read that he may still be although his prime is far behind him.
There are some large new males in Kahna though, I doubt Munna will be able to hold on for long. Kahna has some serious competition.
Yeah I actually think he still is a dominant male there, that's pretty Impressive how old is he? 10-12 years? And with all that competition compared to Bamera who has lost most of his territory to a not so impressive tiger.
Munna must be a real beast very muscular yet has a long and tall Body, probably more agile than most of The other big male tigers, Looks like that atleast. Wonder how he would compare to Wagdoh in size? wagdoh is very big, but some people who has seen them both says munna was bigger, but then some others says wagdoh! I think wagdoh is a little bigger, can't imagen a bigger cat than him!!
Here is 7 pages of eye witness accounts and images of Munna
http://wildfact.com/forum/topic-overrate...ional-park Not sure if he is larger or smaller than Waghdoh, to hard to tell. Cats from different areas are to hard to compare. But Kanwaar Deep has seen Waghdoh and 100s of other cats, and specifically states that Kaziranga has the largest cats he has ever seen. The images seem to agree with that and many others who have expressed that idea. 
Kanwaar once said to me that Lions appers bigger than tiger, but said tiger can weigh more based on researtch.
(09-04-2014, 12:11 AM)'Pantherinae' Wrote: Kanwaar once said to me that Lions appers bigger than tiger, but said tiger can weigh more based on researtch. Just like with your claim about seeing Bamera and other tigers in person. Meaningless without proof! Lets not forget your claim or should I say, "your fathers claim" that Waghdoh looked larger than any Lion as well.
where is this?
Link please? I am friends on his FB I will be able to see it.
Again pckts why do You Get so angry? I just said something.. That I was told.
Also I will post The pictures tomorow of bamera have fond The hard disk today... And my father said he estimated wagdoh to be The heaviest. (09-04-2014, 01:19 AM)'Pantherinae' Wrote:'Pckts dateline='' Wrote: where is this?One friend Asked him on mesages! You said you asked him. No offense, but that is also meaningless. It's very easy to change wording attached to his name. If there is no link then its pointless. Don't worry though, I just asked him and I will be more than happy to provide his response with a link. (09-04-2014, 01:17 AM)'Pantherinae' Wrote: Again pckts why do You Get so angry? I just said something.. That I was told. Nobody is mad. How many times have we heard this now? You say you have them, so post them. It shouldn't be so hard if they are accessible. Honestly, you wan't us to believe it, thats all it would take. |
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