"A bit a more about that : The truth about that "famous bear hunter tiger". That is Dale, a huge 445 pound male Amur tiger. Yes, he had aquired a taste for bears. But, of all the bears he killed, only two that we know of were adult and both female. The first of these was a big female which put up a good fight, leaving the victorious tiger with battle scars. The second she-bear was huge by
female Russian grizzly standards in the wild, 440 pounds. The fight lasted a full 20 minutes, bloody and intense. The tiger finally managed to overcome the fierce she-bear. "
Rumours and misinformation .The heaviest female bear killed was estimated at 150-200 kg
"A tiger kill a sow bear his own size and the fact that the fight last 20 minutes tell us that this was likely no ambush."
Gerenarrly speaking:
"Tigers typically surprise victims from the side or from behind: either approaching upwind or lying in wait downwind. Tigers rarely press an attack if they are seen before their ambush is mounted."
"On February 6 in Sikhote-Alin a tigress discovered the den of a female
bear with yearlings. Digging up the den from the side opposite to the
entrance, she proceeded to harass the mother from both sides alternately.
Eventually the tigress seized the bear from the rear with her claws, behind
the legs, dragged it out of the den, and quickly killed her by clamping its
jaws around the cervical vertebrae at the occiput. The cubs, weighing 30 kg,
each, she killed within the den (Kaplanov, 1948)."
Here's more from Kaplanov (1948)
"The bear cubs, which were yearlings and each of which weighed about 30 kg, were apparently killed while still in the den (the skulls were bitten through), since the walls and the ceiling of the den were splattered with blood.љ While still warm, the bear cubs were taken 30 m down the slope, where they were placed untouched under a fir (Abies sp. - Transl.) tree.љNo tracks were present along one side of the carcass, since the tigress lay during all this time in front of the bear den, spending not less than 8 days here (from February 6-13).љ The female bear was small, not more than 80-100 kg.љ The tigress departed toward the Kolumbe River, without once deviating from her path."
"This was not really an ambushed and an opponent as flexible as a bear should have been able to fight back convincingly even against something that attacked her from the rear. Not to mention this sow bear was completely aware of the tigress. Both animal size are not specified exactly like in your cage fight."
"The female bear was small, not more than 80-100 kg.љ'
"There is also this account of a large male bear killing a tigress but she apparently seriously injured the bear in the process, this should tell you that a parity matchup between the two is far to be one side in favour of the bear :
Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume 2 Part 2 Carnivora (Hyenas and Cats)
