A tiger attacks a bear in a stunning fight filmed by a naturalist guide in India (video)

© Akshay / Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge Team - License: All Rights Reserved

It is a fierce struggle between two forces of nature: a tiger and a bear in the Tadoba National Park (Indian state of Maharashtra). The scene, impressive and full of twists, was filmed by a guide who accompanied tourists on a photo safari ... Now unforgettable.

Although such encounters are not uncommon in nature, it was the first time they were seen in the tourist area of ​​the reserve. It was over 35 ° C this Wednesday, February 28 in the Tiger Reserve Tadoba Andheri, located in central India. An overwhelming heat that led a 7-year-old male Bengal tiger ( Panthera tigris tigris ) to cool off and bask in a pond. However, the water sources are known in the dry period, to attract many animals that cohabit more or less well.

The Tadoba Andheri Tiger Reserve covers an area of ​​approximately 625 km² and is home to remarkable biodiversity in both plants and animals. Fewer than 80 tigers live in the heart and surrounding area of ​​the park.

Akshay Kumar, chief naturalist at the Bamboo Forest Safari lodge , led a group of tourists to discover the wildlife when this tiger - named Matkasur - was very territorial, attacked a female sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus ) who came to drink, accompanied from his little one, a young teenager.

The tiger attacked by surprise the mother and her child by throwing herself on the mother to hunt her or even kill her in a balance of power that clearly favors the tiger. Indeed, the Bengal tiger is a powerful predator that can reach, for a male, 3 meters long for about 225 kg and can kill buffaloes of over 900 kg! Opposite, the sloth bear, also called honey bear or lazy bear, is almost twice as small: a female is about 1.5 meters tall and weighs between 55 and 95 kg, only ...

Video at https://www.facebook.com/thebambooforestsafarilodge/videos/2338760886150205/

Despite the violence of the tiger's attacks that seek to smother the bear with its powerful jaw, the hairs of the ursid protects it : " the only thing that saves the bear is the hairs on the body, because the tiger has no hold, "says Dr. Andheria, president of Wildlife Conservation Trust in India, interviewed by NDTV .
But there is also another explanation: the female bear was protecting her baby and everyone knows that one must never, never attack a mother bear, even for a powerful Bengal tiger!

In a fight that seems endless (more than 15 minutes), the female bear struggles to compete with the tiger but it shows incredible courage and pugnacity that return the situation to his advantage and will allow him to extricate himself from this fight where neither animal will finish winner. After having retreated, the tiger will return to his pond, visibly exhausted, while the wounded female bear and her cub have fainted in the wild.

Video at https://www.facebook.com/thebambooforestsafarilodge/videos/2338760886150205/

The tiger: an endangered force of nature

Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) - India Credit: YourDSLRdotcom / Pixabay - License: CC0

Present in the region of India for 12 000 years but feared by the humans who called it "hunter of Men", the Bengal tiger was massively hunted during the colonization of the country (18th-19th centuries) to the point that its population was on the brink of extinction a few decades ago. This is why India launched the " Tiger Project " in 1973 with the creation of nine national reserves to protect the tiger and with it all the biodiversity that depends on it. Today, 50 reserves have been established covering approximately 2.21% of India's area.

This initiative is laudable but also causes tension with the people living in these sanctuary areas . For example, members of the Baiga tribe denounce pressure, intimidation and abuse by the authorities to leave their ancestral lands, reports the NGO IFAW.

The population of the Bengal tiger, endangered by the Red List of Threatened Species , is reported to be stabilizing around 2,000 individuals for the country.
Note that in the world, there are only 2,500 to 3,500 tigers in the wild ...

Although formally protected, tigers are still subject to popular condemnation as evidenced by the death hunt of a Sumatran tiger on March 4, 2018 by residents of the village of Hatupangan, located north of Sumatra Island (Indonesia). ). The feline had seriously wounded two villagers last February, a symptom of an ever increasing grip of human activities on the natural habitat of wild animals, first and foremost the exploitation of palm oil .

Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) Credit: JudaM / Pixabay - License: CC0

Finally, there are only 10 000 to 20 000 sloth bears in the world, with a declining population and a species classified as vulnerable on the Red List of Threatened Species . The sloth bear is able to climb trees and has an agility that has unfortunately led him to circuses to perform juggling performances.

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Source: https://www.notre-planete.info/actualites/477-combat-ours-tigre-Inde