Indian Gaur - Bull!

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Shot this bull in Bandipur on Friday last. C & C welcome...

Canon 40D, 100-400mm L IS USM, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/50

Indian Gaurs are the largest wild cattle. Average weight of the male (bull) is 1300 Kg. Due to its formidable size and power the gaurs have very few natural enemies. Crocodiles, leopard, dholes packs occasionals attack ungaurded calves or unhealthly gaurs but only the tigers have been reported to kill a full grown adult. On the other hand there have been reports in Khana & Nagarhole of tigers been attacked by large bull gaurs and even killed.

[Anuradha Nautiyal]

Hi Praveen,

Like the dazed expression on the face :-) Also liked the description you have added in your notes.

I feel the light is slightly more (especially on the head and the horns).. Maybe a faster shutter speed and /or a smaller aperture would have reduced the light a bit.

Hope to see you upload more shots from the trip
Anu

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice bull. I liked the description. It is not easy to kill an adult gaur as the tiger has to be cautious due to the huge body weight of the gaur. Also, the tiger has to be cautious about the herd trying to come to the rescue of the attacked animal. Most of the times calves and female gaurs get killed and occasionally an adult bull falls prey.

A boost in contrast will slightly darken the underparts and will look good. What is that wound in the neck region? Any clear view of that?

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Sabyasachi I think the sore spot is the same that I had read when you had raised similar question and Vikram's answer is as below :

28-09-2009, 12:23 PM
Vikram Nanjappa
Moderator Join Date: 10-12-08
Location: Nagarhole National Park
Posts: 244

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The "Sore Spot " , as found in the Sambar , does not occur among the Gaur. I took the liberty of doing a quick check on all the old and new literature before answering and could not find any mention of this. Which leads me to the conclusion that this is no more than a simple sore. She must have had an irritation and rubbed her neck against a branch or something to get some relief.
I would be interested if any body has any additional information on this.
__________________


Vikram Nanjappa
http://www.youtube.com/gaur36
http://gaur36.livejournal.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaur36

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice potrait. Liked the composition. The cut in the ear depicts he had been in fights before. Thanks for the information.

[Bibhav Behera]

I like the sharp head. The stare is intimidating. i would reduce a bit of the nose highlights.