A video featuring a thrilling duel between a sloth bear and a tiger shot at Maharashtra's Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve has gone viral on social media, leaving many including wildlife observers astounded.
The video, shot by a group of visitors on a safari at the reserve, shows the female bear counter repeated attacks from the tiger, retaliating in equal measure.
A youtube screengrab of the intense fight between a sloth bear and a tiger.
According to NDTV, the video was captured on Wednesday afternoon by Akshay Kumar, the chief naturalist at Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge, who was leading a safari with the tourists and came across the face-off between the two animals.
Kumar told the news portal that the two beasts possibly fought over the access to a nearby water body.
DNA quoted Sunil Nayak, a Mumbai-based senior management professional who witnessed the fight, as saying: "Even the guide who was with us felt that this was an extremely rare sight. It was quite a close fight. It was very thrilling and nail-biting. We thought that the tiger will overpower the bear. But the bear knew one thing that if it gives access to its neck to the tiger then she would lose the fight and her life,"
"Hence, the bear dug her neck between her legs and curled herself when the tiger pounced on her. The bear used its lighter weight to push the tiger back. We were extremely lucky to witness such a fight," he said.
Both the tiger and sloth bear appeared to suffer injuries. The bear eventually ran away.
Analysing the bout, Dr Anish Andheria, president of Wildlife Conservation Trust told NDTV: "Sloth bears are an easy game. As you can see in the video, the sloth bear was so exhausted. They can't outrun tigers,"
"The only thing that saves the bear is the hair on its body... the tiger doesn't get a grip," Andheria explains.
Watch the astonishing fight here:
Published Date: Mar 03, 2018 11:13 AM | Updated Date: Mar 03, 2018 11:21 AM
