The astonishing moment a 660-pound tiger launched an attack on the world’s deadliest man-killing bear was captured in a series of incredible pictures.
In one image, the Bengal tiger knocked the 300-pound sloth bear to the ground as it temporarily gained the upper hand. In another, the six-foot-tall bear stood back up and began swiping at the big cat with its claws and teeth causing it to retreat.
Photographer, naturalist, and tour leader Arpit Parekh, aged 33, from Palghar, India, captured the incredible images in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra, India.
The rare encounter took place 1000 yards away from Arpit’s vehicle, lasting an intense 30 minutes.
“The tiger was enjoying his afternoon siesta when he suddenly charged ferociously into the nearby thicket,” Arpit said.
“We heard screeching and soon realised the tiger had gotten into a fight with a sloth bear. They eventually moved out into the open.
“The tiger was able to sink his teeth into the bear and we thought the bear would die but the tiger soon became exhausted and let go. The bleeding sloth bear charged at the tiger and bit him on the leg.
“Finally, after a gruelling battle, the two behemoths decided to call it quits and walked away from each other.
“It was a once in a lifetime moment to witness and it goes to show how difficult life in the forest can be.
“Look what both animals had to do to get to the water: they had to face life and death challenges. It really emphasises what a precious resource water is.”
Sloth bears may have an adorable furry facade, but they are the deadliest bears around.
The most notorious of this species was known as ‘The sloth bear of Mysore’.
Shot in 1957, this particular bear killed 12 people and mauled two others.
Arpit captured the images on his Canon EOS 750D camera using a Canon 55-250mm lens.
Turn that bear loose at the next Antifa or BLM demonstration.
Best comment of the bunch. Too bad it would poison the bear.
Giving foreign criminals citizenship,
Is the stupidest thing you could do for our country….Biden must be a Morron!
Heaven help us…. next he’ll want to
give them jobs in his cabinet! The man is too old and incompetent….
Totally agree with your sentiment, but was trying to relate it to the Tiger and the Bear that I thought I was commenting about.
Baffled by the attempt to somehow, relate this to the water being a precious resource. I was entranced by the photography and the apparent lack of awareness by the photographer. I would have been a long way off in those thirty minutes. I never cease to be amazed at God’s grace in sparing the tourists we have in our Western States who rush up to “those cute bear cubs” and “I’ll just get inside the fence to get a closer shot at that Bison”. They don’t call them “wild animals” without a reason. That wounded Sloth Bear was probably ready to kill anything that it saw, and the tiger certainly was not happy about losing.