This bear did not appreciate being taken by surprise.
One of the cool things about National Parks is the opportunity to witness scenes straight out of a nature documentary. Many people get to witness incredible sights that they may never have seen otherwise. That is why we always make it a point to detour to them whenever we are nearby.
Ranthambore National Park in India is an incredibly popular place for people to go if they want to see a tiger roaming around in the wild. The tourists in today's video get treated to an especially rare sight.
That's because two tigers attempt to sneak up on a sloth bear. The bruin seems to be unaware of what's going on until the tiger is right on top of him. The two big cats quickly find bears don't like being surprised.
Well, you know what they say: curiosity killed the cat. Or at the very least, it gave them a good scare. This was fascinating to watch because it's one of those fight scenarios people talk about, but rarely get to see. In at least this instance, the bear clearly won this encounter. His intimidation tactic of standing on his hind legs seemed to help in that regard.
In India, there is a long-recorded history of man-eating tigers. However, the sloth bear is an equally aggressive animal that has been responsible for many attacks on humans itself. Humans aren't the natural prey items of these animals, but you ever visit India, it's worth giving both animals a wide berth and simply observing from a distance.
Bears are usually thought of as apex predators, but in areas where the sloth bear's range overlaps with tigers, the big cats sometimes prey on the bruins. However, we get the feeling this bear has dealt with tigers before. It wasn't about to end up on the dinner table today!
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
NEXT: THE AXIS DEER AND HOW THEY'RE IMPACTING PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES
WATCH
