Tiger eating Gaur

Tiger Eating Indian Gaur.
May 2009
Kanha National park, M.P.

Nikon D80
Sigma 170-500mm
Apereture- 6.3
SS- 1/60
ISO 400
Handheld from Gypsy
http://atulintadoba.blogspot.com/

Atul,
A Nice record. How big was the gaur? I wish there had been less vegetation blocking the view, but one can't do anything about it. Do you have any other views of it.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Nice documentation. Would have liked less clutter in the image...

Nice action captured. Its good that you got both the eyes clear. Its quite difficult to get the tiger with the kill in the open.

Keep posting..

Hi Sabyasachi,
Yes,
it is nice if this image was taken in opening. But the tiger was eating Gaur in a small nullah and I took this image from gypsy top. It was very difficuit to stay with camera steady from that place. From vehicle seats I even not seen this tiger beacuse of big and thick grass. This tiger was attacked on this big solitory bull Gaur on 5th May 2009 morning. At that time it hamstringing gaur's both hind legs and when gaur anable to move, starts eating live gaur. after some time gaur died.

Must have been a difficult shot to capture..... though I would have liked a lil less clutter, I do realise tht it would be asking for too much.. :-) catching a Tiger with a fresh kill .... wow....!!

thats amazing moment....good one TFS

Good Shot. There is some clutter, but like Mrudul says, it is not easy to get a tiger in the open with a kill.
Didn't know tigers sometimes eat their prey live... are you sure about that?

Yes Abhishek, as a tiger ressercher for last 20 years in Tadoba and other Indian forests, I sometime saw live predation of tiger, specially on big animal like Inadian Gaur. Twice I saw this in Tadoba when a tigeress and her four full grown cubs were ate gaur after injured its hind legs. Thats beacuse killing gaur by chocking its huge neck is sometime impossible for tiger. it also turns danger to try holding gaur with neck beacuse of its deadly horns.

Thanks Atul for sharing.

Its been great help and learning from your shots and information for juveniles in wildlife like me :)

A rare photo indeed, infact this is the first time I have seen a pic of a tiger eating a gaur- thanks to Atul. I have always wondered why a tiger should risk life and limb to take on a formidable adversary like the gaur, when easier prey is available. But then again the master predator would have its own reasons-
Plenty of meat with one kill,I guess would be one reason
Easier for some tigers to catch than a fleet-footed deer.....

A tiger would think twice or maybe thrice before attacking a gaur. One gore from its horns could fatally wound/kill a tiger. Once wounded it would be difficult for a tiger to hunt and could eventually die. In this case, the tiger took a shot probably because it realised that the gaur was wounded and could not fight back.

Tigers which cant hunt (injured) or have grown old are known to attack wounded animals or even become man eaters (easy kill :D )...