Tiger eating cement pole?

[Atul Dhamankar]

Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, Mah.
Sep. 2010

D90
150-500mm OS
f/8
1/250
iso 320
beanbag support

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice moment. I am sure the tiger doesn't like the cement pole. By the way what is the purpose of that cement pole?

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice shot, maybe they are getting ready for the concrete jungles ...

[Bibhav Behera]

Interesting behaviour. Perhaps it had some irritation in its teeth? Can someone confirm please. Thanks for sharing.

[Nitin Choudhary]

woah... superb shot..

[Saurabh Bhatia]

Great shot

Big cats have been known to Gnaw at hard stuff like tree barks etc.
domestic cats also show this behaviour

Origin of gnawing is not known to me but it may be either for cleaning the teeth (a la neem daatun which traditional indians do) or to satisfy some itch.

On pathological front, it may be pica, which is caused due to deficiency of essential minerals, typically calcium. You may see human children eating garden mud or scraping the lime from walls. A detailed discussion can be seen at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080727180747AAQxvo9

Tigers may have the option to gnaw more at bones for satisfying calcium and phosphate deficiencies, but a cement pole isn,t bad either. I have seen pregnant women and marasmic children do this.

[Anuradha Nautiyal]

Lovely shot .. Just wondering what is the cement pole doing there in the wild surroundings????

TFS
Anu