A face off between Sloth bear and two tigers

[dickysingh]

9th April 2011. In the morning safari some jeeps saw a pair of tigers walking from Ranthambhore national park towards the Kalapani anicut in the Kundaal valley at the edge of the national park. In the evening we found the mating tigers (T24 male and T39 female – both young adults) in a rocky plateau across the Kalapani anicut.

 

 

The plateau had a short grass cover and some low trees. The sun was behind the tigers and the back light was very strong. Most of the time the tigers were in the shade and were no good for photography. After about half an hour the tigress suddenly got up and started stalking towards the edge of the plateau.

 

 

A mother bear with two small cubs riding on her back was walking towards the mating pair of tigers and the tigress had gone to confront them. By the time the bear realized that there were tigers close by, the tigress had got very close to them. That’s when the mother became aware of the tiger’s presence.

 

 

The bear appeared to be in serious trouble and we expected the bear to bolt away but the bear had other plans. The bear cubs flattened themselves on the mother’s back while the mother charged at the approaching tigress.

 

 

I don’t think that the tigress expected the bear to charge and tried to get out of what was by now a messy situation for both of them. The bear blocked the tiger’s path and stood up on her hind legs to confront the tigress. By this time the tigress desperately wanted to get out of the confrontation and kept backing off. T 39 in a young tigress who probably did not have the experience to take on a desperate mother.

 

 

The bear started screaming loudly and got increasingly aggressive. Soon there was a loud slanging match between the two, which the bear won. The tigress beat a hasty retreat while the bear stood her ground.

 

 

By this time the male tiger who was observing the drama from a little distance decided to get involved. T 24 is about 4 years old and had just come into dominance. We were worried for the bear.

 

 

We had seriously underestimated the power of an angry mother. T 24, the young male star of southern Ranthambhore, could not even budge the bear. These two had another loud slanging match that went in the bear’s favour.

 

 

T 24 soon realized the fury of an angry mother and started backing away from a now “one sided” fight and did not stop till he reached a safe distance.

 

 

All this happened in exactly two minutes and 10 seconds. When the clock started it seemed that the mother bear had got herself into a very dangerous spot. In ten seconds she had taken control and two minutes later she had forced two tigers to back off. The victor walked off leaving behind two sheepish cats.

 

 

Pardon the large watermarks but these pictures have been downloaded and used by far too many people / agencies without any credit.

[Game Warden]

Wow, what a series of images. Incredible sighting

[wilddog]

Double wow!

[Guest nappa]

Triple wow!

[kittykat23uk]

OMG!!

[Rainbirder]

What a superb series of images documenting this amazing encounter!

Well done!!!

[Sverker]

Great story and pics!

[Super LEEDS]

Shabash, baloo!

[AKR1]

Another bhallo (sloth bear) kudo. Great pictures.

[Sangeeta]

You are right about people posting this all over without attribution, Aditya. I have seen this series elsewhere before.

 

The babies on her back through the entire episode are truly an amazing sight. So here is another shabaash to the bhalu.

[Paul T]

That's amazing! The tiger may rule the forest but it sure knows when to leave an angry sloth bear alone.

[twaffle]

Wonderful experience but miserable cheating b******s for stealing your photos.

[ZaminOz]

"... for the female of the species is more deadly than the male."

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@dickysingh

 

Sensational imagery!

A mother's fury — capable of resisting a tiger, no less.

In several classes next week these images will be highlighted to my students to illustrate maternal instincts.

Many, many hearty thanks for sharing such fine images on Safaritalk.

Tom K.