On Camera, "Rarest Of The Rare" Confrontation Between Tigress, Bear

Wild encounters are the most sought after by wildlife enthusiasts as well as tourists. One such video is going viral on social media which shows a bear coming face-to-face with a tigress. 

A video shared by a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Dr Ravi Gupta has captured "rarest of the rare" sights between a tigress and a bear in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh. In the video, the tigress is seen taking a majestic stroll along a woodland road in the dense forest, as tourists on safari jeeps witness the sight from a distance. 

The bear suddenly appears from the bushes and crosses in front of the tigress. The tigress takes a moment, pauses and settles down seeing the bear crossing the path, the video shows, attentively observing the bear's movements.

The tigress keenly watches the bear, rather keeping an eye out for the bear after it crosses the street and goes to the opposite side. And then all of a sudden, in a rare act of aggression, the bear attacks the tigress, sparking a brief confrontation between the two formidable predators. Despite the unexpected standoff, the tigress maintains calmness and poise. The tigress watches the bear as it departs after this.

A rarest of rare sight of a bear charging towards a tigress, captured today at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve- A CATS( Conservation Assured Tiger Standards) habitat developed assiduously by UP Forest Department.
Pl don't miss the calm and composure of Big Cat even in face of attack &… pic.twitter.com/jU48UWpTqJ

— Dr Rajiv Kumar Gupta IAS (Retd) (@drrajivguptaias) April 30, 2024

"The rarest of rare sight of a bear charging towards a tigress, captured today at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve - A CATS (Conservation Assured Tiger Standards) habitat developed assiduously by UP Forest Department. Please don't miss the calm and composure of the big cat even in the face of attack and nervousness and fear of a bear aware of an unequal status. Nature has many lessons to teach humans," reads the caption of the post posted by Dr Gupta. 

Since being shared online, the video has garnered more than 8,000 views on X.

Commenting on the video, a user wrote, "It's amazing both comes face to face without fight or harming each other & moves in their way peacefully." (sic)

"Amazing nature", another one wrote.

A third user wrote, "Bagheera aur Sher Khan Aamne Samne!!"

"This is normal for a bear, it missed the tiger first, and caught the whiff later( a bears sense of smell is phenomenal, and a tigers sight and hearing is superb. The bear mock charged and left once the tigress stood her ground, both will not risk a fight, unless there were cubs!," another user pointed out.