Tiger: Hunting Method

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

I may like to add one incident documented by Shri H.S. Panwar,(Ex.Director, Project Tiger,Ex.Field Director,Kanha Tiger Reserve):
"In one case,a huge territorial male was observed over the carcass of an only slightly smaller male he had killed in an encounter.The former cannibalized and persisted on the kill for four days, in much the same manner as he might persist over a herbivore kill.The intriguing aspect was that the killing was not made by the conventional method.No canine marks were seen on the neck or nape of the carcass.It appeared that the smaller male had intruded into the territory of the larger male in the belief that the latter was away from the intruded segment of its territory.But the presence of the smaller male was probably advertised to the territorial male by the alarm calls of langur or the deer and this alerted the territorial male and brought him out in search of the intruder.Suddenly confronted with the territoral male, the intruder may have offered submission which the territorial master was not magnanimous enough to accept.He probably therefore took the intruder by surprise by holding his head between in forepaws and twisting the neck with a vicious jerk,snapping the spinal cord."-H.S.Panwar

P.S:When we two visited Kanha for the first time in March,1975, we reached Mandla by bus from Jabalpur.We met him in his office.He said, "You will not get any type of conveyance from here for 2/3 days, it is Holi time here (It was the day next after Doljatra).I am rushing to Kanha, there is a forest fire, are you prepared to come with me?"Did not wait for any driver, he drove the jeep himself.Just dropping us in Kanha FRH, he rushed to the spot where forest fire took place.