The Corbett Tiger Reserve witnessed an extraordinary event recently, where a tiger employed a highly strategic approach to hunt a tusker.

The tiger first isolated the elephant from its group, deprived it of food and water for four days, and then killed the exhausted pachyderm.

Advertisement

According to officials, this rare behavior was observed in the Bijrani forest range. The tiger targeted a healthy 20-year-old male tusker, separating it from its herd by attacking its hind leg.

Over the next four days, the tiger relentlessly pursued the elephant, preventing it from accessing food or water, leaving the tusker feeble and vulnerable.

Forest workers discovered the tusker’s carcass on a safari track in the Bijrani range. Evidence of the tiger’s attacks, including bloodstains at multiple locations, indicated the prolonged struggle.

Rahul Mishra, Deputy Director of the Corbett Tiger Reserve, confirmed that the postmortem report prepared by veterinarians Dr Dushyant Sharma and Dr Rajiv Kumar corroborated the tiger’s fatal assault.

“This is an extremely rare occurrence,” Mishra remarked. “The tiger displayed a calculated hunting strategy, isolating the elephant and capitalizing on its exhaustion.”

Wildlife expert AG Ansari noted the similarity of this incident to a tiger-elephant conflict reported eight years ago in Corbett’s Dhikala range.

“Eight years ago, a tiger killed an elephant using an identical method, isolating it and then attacking it,” Ansari said.

This rare predatory behavior underscores the complex dynamics of wildlife in Corbett and raises questions about the evolving hunting strategies of tigers in the region.