An early morning safari into the heart of the Indian jungle may result in a chance encounter with a wild Bengal Tiger, ambling along the track, exhausted from a night on the prowl, before quickly diverging into the thick undergrowth. Or perhaps an eruption of Langur monkeys and Chital alarm calls signals that a predator is near and, in excited pursuit, the source of the commotion reveals the magnificent striped Cat basking in shallow water, cooling itself in the heat of the afternoon sun. Or maybe whilst scanning the tree lines for a crested Serpent Eagle or Jungle Owlet, a sudden heavy russle in the bushes draws attention to a quick glimpse of a startled Sloth Bear galloping into the dense bush. These are rare experiences for a privileged few who visit the enchanted Indian jungles and in my 6 months of working at Kipling Camp in Kanha's National Park, I was indeed lucky enough to experience these on more than one occasion.
However, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to witness one morning in April 2008. Accompanying two of my guests into the Park, we were about to win front row seats for a powerful and deadly show.....a brutal battle between a large male Tiger and a female Sloth Bear, attempting to protect her cub. One of my guests managed to capture this rare event on camera. I have added some slow-mo for extra impact but here is the incredible footage of a truly unforgettable battle of nature..........
Nearing the end of a strangely quiet morning, we reluctantly started to head back to camp along the beautifully scenic Bishanpura track on the south west side of Kanha. Relaxing in the back of the Gypsy, I enjoyed the warmth of the morning sun whilst eagerly scanning the forests on either side for movement and misshapes that would expose one of the many tropical inhabitants to excite my guests. But all seemed still, even the birds were reluctant to sing..... as if everything but us had sensed the impending battle that was about to ensue......
As we meandered around a sharp bend, there in front of us, wandering along the track was a female Sloth Bear with a young cub, no more than 2 months old, clinging to her back. A rare sight in itself as these creatures are extremely elusive. She quickly veered off to the right and began to climb the steep grass bank and, with fixated excitement, we watched as she finally reached the top, briefly glancing back to ensure we were not a threat.
Suddenly our guide excitedly whispered "Tiger!Tiger!" whilst waving a pointed finger towards the left side of the bank. There, majestically poised was a large male Tiger intently targeted on the Bear's movements. Suddenly he leapt across the bank and challenged the Bear to a brief fight before backing away for a few moments. She was obviously injured and was on the defense rather than attack due to her young cub. The Tiger circled her, crouched and once again attacked, this time with intention to kill. And that he did. The cub started to wail loudly and what this video misses is the point at which the cub turns and looks straight at us. In desperation, it then ran towards us and tumble turned head first down the steep bank to the foot of our jeep. At just arms reach, the temptation to rescue this little cub was overwhelming but this was a wild animal, and hard though it was, this was what nature intended and we had to respect that. The cub scrambled back up the steep bank and inherently attempted to climb the nearest tree. But the Tiger was watching and quickly ran across the top of the bank and with one leaping swipe of his paw, pulled the cub to the ground and killed it instantly.
He returned to where the mother lay, picked her up and dragged her down the other side of the bank. We moved around the corner to just glimpse him dragging her across the track and down into the ravine on the other side. The picture below is my very own last captured moment before he disappeared into the undergrowth.
However, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to witness one morning in April 2008. Accompanying two of my guests into the Park, we were about to win front row seats for a powerful and deadly show.....a brutal battle between a large male Tiger and a female Sloth Bear, attempting to protect her cub. One of my guests managed to capture this rare event on camera. I have added some slow-mo for extra impact but here is the incredible footage of a truly unforgettable battle of nature..........
Nearing the end of a strangely quiet morning, we reluctantly started to head back to camp along the beautifully scenic Bishanpura track on the south west side of Kanha. Relaxing in the back of the Gypsy, I enjoyed the warmth of the morning sun whilst eagerly scanning the forests on either side for movement and misshapes that would expose one of the many tropical inhabitants to excite my guests. But all seemed still, even the birds were reluctant to sing..... as if everything but us had sensed the impending battle that was about to ensue......
As we meandered around a sharp bend, there in front of us, wandering along the track was a female Sloth Bear with a young cub, no more than 2 months old, clinging to her back. A rare sight in itself as these creatures are extremely elusive. She quickly veered off to the right and began to climb the steep grass bank and, with fixated excitement, we watched as she finally reached the top, briefly glancing back to ensure we were not a threat.
Suddenly our guide excitedly whispered "Tiger!Tiger!" whilst waving a pointed finger towards the left side of the bank. There, majestically poised was a large male Tiger intently targeted on the Bear's movements. Suddenly he leapt across the bank and challenged the Bear to a brief fight before backing away for a few moments. She was obviously injured and was on the defense rather than attack due to her young cub. The Tiger circled her, crouched and once again attacked, this time with intention to kill. And that he did. The cub started to wail loudly and what this video misses is the point at which the cub turns and looks straight at us. In desperation, it then ran towards us and tumble turned head first down the steep bank to the foot of our jeep. At just arms reach, the temptation to rescue this little cub was overwhelming but this was a wild animal, and hard though it was, this was what nature intended and we had to respect that. The cub scrambled back up the steep bank and inherently attempted to climb the nearest tree. But the Tiger was watching and quickly ran across the top of the bank and with one leaping swipe of his paw, pulled the cub to the ground and killed it instantly.
He returned to where the mother lay, picked her up and dragged her down the other side of the bank. We moved around the corner to just glimpse him dragging her across the track and down into the ravine on the other side. The picture below is my very own last captured moment before he disappeared into the undergrowth.
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| From Naughty by Nature |
11 comments:
wow, that was upsetting. But as you said, these are wild animals and this is how nature is maintained. How difficult for you, and how amazing.
WOW OH WOW. I am stunned to see this footage, feel terrible for the baby. It must have been terrible to witness, and yet, this is indeed what goes on in the food chain. I try to deal with seeing baby ducklings disappear one by one, but know that there is a mother of another species out there who must also feed her babies. I just feel so protective of the animals... and then again, having worked as a carnivore keeper's aid at the zoo, those big cats and bears could take me down in a minute. Life in all it's complexity... as always!
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That sloth bear female is very, very small and was wounded.
To confront a big male bengal tiger wasn´t really a good idea... Maybe she could just go backwards, but well, she didn´t...
I know about accounts of brown bears killing big male tigers, but these are big bears, not small bears ;)
im disappointed with your behaviour. you should have saved the baby and send it to zoo insted of watching it being killed. you are brutal ... hate you for that sick behaviour.
I also disagree with your response. 'We had to respect what nature intended'...seriously? Coming from a human, a species which has totally transformed the planet, which kills and continues to kill for pleasure, a species which pollutes the environment. We're a part of nature and although we can't and shouldn't intervene in all animal interactions, you were a part of this and could have saved a cub from death. The cub could have been nursed and possibly rehabilitated. I understand you think you have a grand notion of morality, but I think your omission was a nasty act, not as nasty as the tiger's, but nasty all the same.
Thank you Bartek and Ted, however did you think that besides this being a natural event, the ability to intervene was virtually impossible given the circumstance! Firstly a small WILD baby bear who's mother has just been killed by a Tiger and is in frantic shock would most likely act in a severely defensive way if it were to be plucked from the ground and placed in an open top jeep. Secondly, as we all know Tigers are an apex predator and extremely dangerous. Are you suggesting that whilst this animal was less than 10m from the vehicle, I should have attempted to climb out of the vehicle, take away it's prey, place it in an open jeep with a group of people, and not expect it to leap into the vehicle also, with a high potential that it may actually severely injure or even kill a human... (which would mean the Tiger would then be killed by rangers anyway!)??. Thirdly, is it right that we take away a young wild animal and place it in an Indian zoo (which I believe are not exactly top of the range for animal health and welfare standards), for a life of solitude behind bars for the general public to gawp at... would this animal have a happy life in captivity, no. Therefore my main point is that, aside from letting nature take its course, an attempt to rescue this little bear was virtually impossible given the circumstances and if an attempt had been made, the outcome, which ever way you look at it, would have been devastating.
Therefore making harsh comments of "hatred towards my sick behaviour" and performing "nasty" acts of injustice are pretty unjust and nasty themselves! Perhaps think outside the box and look at the bigger picture before making ignorant and opinionated judgements!
Interesting video from a Beautiful Wild Woman from the West!
Too bad the story has such a sad ending. Being a lover of nature, I understand that this is the reality of what happens, whether a human is present or not, that one animal dies so another may eat, or in this case maybe it was just territorial. I wonder if the Safari Group had not startled the bears, that the bears would not have met their fate. Then again there will always be interactions between humans and nature, we can only try our best to minimize them by achieving our goal of a sustainable existence on this planet.
Do not even entertain some of these responses. Ridiculous. Must have been a surreal experience though.
i would have saved the cub
how sad
That must have been the show of a lifetime. Although If I were in your place, I might have been scarred for life.
As much as I respect the way of nature, I can't help but think that the tourists might have been in some part responsible for the fate of the bears (I'm sure you see where I'm going with this so I won't elaborate).
Bearing that in mind, I would have definitely picked up the cub. The tiger did not kill for sustenance, but over a territorial dispute. And to be really honest, if humans didn't crowd the earth so much, maybe mama bear and tigers wouldn't run into each other so often. So I wouldn't really call it nature's way.
Now whether or not the bear cub could have led a decent life in captivity is another matter.
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