Who would win in a fight between a tiger and a bear? It's the question that plagues us all. While we don't quite get the answer to that here, it is interesting to see what happens when a bear crosses paths with a tiger.
The incident happened in April at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve. It's a reserve in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state. The tiger was walking down the road when a sloth bear crossed her path. The bear wandered from the nearby trees to the road and then into the grass. However, the bear reappeared when the tiger got closer, chasing her.
"A rarest of rare sight of a bear charging toward a tigress, captured today at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve," Rajiv Kumar Gupta, a retired government official with the Indian Administration Service who witnessed the encounter, wrote in the post. The tiger stands her ground against the bear. Neither attacks, having a stare-off. Ultimately, the bear leaves and retreats.
A rarest of rare sight of a bear charging towards a tigress, captured today at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve- A CATS( Conservation Assured Tiger Standards) habitat developed assiduously by UP Forest Department.
Pl don?t miss the calm and composure of Big Cat even in face of attack &? pic.twitter.com/jU48UWpTqJ— Dr Rajiv Kumar Gupta IAS (Retd) (@drrajivguptaias) April 30, 2024
Tiger Meets Bear, Oh My
"Apex predators usually have a mutual respect for each other especially if they are of a similar size," Tara Pirie, a lecturer in ecology and conservation at the University of Surrey, told Live Science. "The tiger took time to watch the bear, sizing it up possibly to understand more about it. The bear did not show a particularly aggressive charge from the video so the tiger must have decided it was big enough to stand its ground."
Basically, the predators don't want to fight each other. It's pointless to open each other to risk. The tiger apparently was a mother with cubs as well so did not want to engage with the bear. It submitted to the bear, which then left, feeling satisfied.
"The tigress lowered her guard and surrendered when the bear got into attack mode," Govindani told Live Science in an email. "Once the tigress surrendered the bear left immediately, as [it] was also not keen to fight and showed aggression just [to] show its readiness to take on the tigress head on if provoked to a fight."
It's not quite the fist-pumping battle of a bear fighting two alligators. However, the tiger and bear face-off show what happens when two predators cross paths with each other.
