Gaur-An Old injured warrior from Bandipur

[Shyamala Kumar]

We saw that this particular massive Bison carried predatory claw marks on his neck and shoulders.He was also unfortunately limping and dragging himself.Hope he lives to fight another day.Canon 60D+100-400mm 1/160s ISO200 FL100mm F6.3.Feb evening 2014

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice record of a jungle drama. A natural feel of the forest. The Gaur has crossed its prime but not very old. Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice to see this record. Did you find it limping in the front left fore leg? It is unusual for a tiger to attack in that manner as the gaur can injure it by the horns. I wonder if the marks on the neck could have been inflicted by another gaur. I am wondering about the wound in the left front fore leg. Did you get to see the gaur from the other side as well?

[Shyamala Kumar]

Yes, I have photographed him on his right side as well.The right shoulder and neck bear similar ,of what seems to be puncture wounds positioned in paw like formations.It could be more than one tiger that could have tried to bring him down.The wound on left front foreleg(yes he was limping on that foot) could be the result of a powerful bite from the teeth of a predator in order to bring him down.It could be that he was attacked by a pair of inexperienced tigers.It is unlikely that these numerous wounds could be the result of fight with another gaur.When one looks at an enlarged image of the wounds the paw marks our unmistakable.

[Abhirup Dutta Gupta]

SUPER image of this massive creature.

[Murugan Anantharaman]

The marks convey a sense of drama that might have occurred earlier. In a jungle like Bandipur where prey is abundant I doubt if a tiger would take on a huge bull like this unless as stated by Shyamalaji- its a/ a pair of inexperienced tiger(s). Lovely image. Thanks for sharing.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Apropos of my posting dated 25-02-2014, I may like to add the following :
Only a massive male Tiger will venture to attack much a bull. The broken left foreleg, as Shri Sabyasachi has pointed out, might have been caused by the attempt of the tiger to force it down (and then crushing the windpipe).
The claw marks on top left of the Gaur's hide might have been caused while the tiger made a sudden attempt to inflict deep punctured wounds on both side of the nape (not throat) which could kill a Gaur instantly ( breaking neck vertebrae).
May be the latter one was tried first by the Tiger.
Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Shyamala Kumar]

Saktipadaji you may have projected the most likely scenario that could have taken place, taking into consideration the available facts.Thanks for the graphic, though chilling description.