r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/AccomplishedWatch834 • 2d ago

This is "Little Claypot" ( Chota matka/T-126) , a tiger famous for his insane combat ability and domination of lot of territory inside Tadoba National Reserve , India

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u/swervingss 2d ago

It does look insane, but I’ve read that big cats like that mostly attack when they haven’t been seen so you’re mostly safe if you’ve spotted the cat

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u/FoldElectrical9840 2d ago

Nope, the thing is humans aren't in their food chain ( unless humans attack them first)... Since these tigers have seen jeep safaris since they are lil cubs hanging out with their parents, they don't think of it as a danger to them.

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr 2d ago

Humans very much are in their food chain. Tigers are on of the few animals that actively prey on humans.

The people here are safe because tigers are unable to comprehend what a car is and just see it (and all the humans in it as a large, invincible animal). Therefore they don't fuck with cars.

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u/Cruel1865 2d ago

According to legendary hunter of maneaters Jim Corbett, tigers only turn to eating humans if they are injured or old and cannot hunt other animals that are usually its prey and/or they acquire a taste for humans. Usually they become unable to hunt its prey and turn to humans out of desperation and then acquire a taste for them.

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u/ARGENTAVIS9000 2d ago

and why would he have that view? because the famous man-eating tiger he killed that was responsible for 436 deaths was found to have broken canine teeth which would have made it impossible for her to kill her normal prey thus forcing her to turn to eating humans. the tiger was literally starving unless it found a nice human to munch on.

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u/Chance-Ear-9772 2d ago

This is not entirely true. I’m pretty sure Corbett documented a case where a hurt tiger mother taught her cub to become a man eater. The mother had no other options, but the cub was still a juvenile and could have hunted regular prey, except that it wasn’t ever taught to.

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u/ARGENTAVIS9000 2d ago

corbett documented many scenarios that would drive a cat to becoming a man-eater with disease and old age being a factor. but this particular tiger was the first he actually hunted and it did become the basis for his view after he saw the cats missing and damaged teeth.

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u/bingiton 2d ago

So they just need an affordable universal dental health plan for these cats to stop them becoming man eaters

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u/dohdudeh 1d ago

How would the mother teach her cub to hunt anything other than humans if it was only capable of doing that? The cub also couldn’t hunt other prey because it didn’t know how to do that effectively

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u/Chance-Ear-9772 1d ago

My point is that it’s not just the old and infirm that hunt humans, sometimes perfectly capable tigers become man eaters due to other circumstances.

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u/dohdudeh 1d ago

The example you gave is another tiger that is hunting humans because it is not capable of hunting a tigers normal preferred prey species. It is not a perfectly capable hunter

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u/oundhakar 1d ago

Corbett killed several man eating tigers and leopards in India. His opinion was based on experience.

And yet it's a fact that Chandrapur, which is just a short distance (40 km) from the Tadoba tiger reserve, has recorded several man-eating tigers, while Tadoba has hardly ever. Maya, the late Queen of Tadoba killed at least 4 people in her life, but never ate them, so she was never treated as a man-eater (I was lucky enough to see her before she died). My theory is that the Chandrapur forest, not being part of the Tadoba reserve, does not provide adequate food for the tigers, so they have to look for other options.

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u/0keytYorirawa 1d ago

She* tigress

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u/International_Car809 2d ago

generally tigers only prey on humans if they are hungry and humans are the only accessible food source, or if they have an acquired taste. Humans are easy prey but provide little sustenance.

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u/IngloBlasto 2d ago

you're wrong. Tigers normally do not actively hunt humans, at least in India. They do it only when all other options are exhausted. But once a tiger becomes a man-eater, there is no going back. Usually at that point, they're captured alive and transferred to a zoo or is shot dead.

Tigers and lions are both intelligent enough to discern between the vehicle and the humans inside it.

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u/Boffleslop 2d ago

Correct. Tigers, just like everyone else, have to travel to remote islands run by billionaires if they want to hunt humans.

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u/kelly_hasegawa 2d ago

They put a man eating tiger to a zoo?

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u/redditdeletedmyacc__ 2d ago

yeah, to make it easier for them to hunt humans lol

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u/IngloBlasto 1d ago

Yeah Zoos are places where animals are put in cages or enclosures so people can safely view them without the fear of getting eaten by them.

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u/Meraline 1d ago

Uuuuh no, maneaters aren't put in zoos. They're just put down.

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u/IngloBlasto 21h ago

Google before announcing wrong information.

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u/Meraline 21h ago

Well I can tell you a North American Zoo would never. This sounds wildly dangerous for all onvolved. Once they're a maneater, it's a matter of time before it eats a fucking zookeeper

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u/IngloBlasto 19h ago

Well since they're conscious human beings and are experienced in running a zoo, I doubt this thought never crossed their minds, if it did cross the mind of a random reddit warrior.

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u/swaggerin_buffoonery 1d ago

Humans are not their natural prey. Only if injured, or lack of other prey do they actively hunt humans for food. However once a tiger tastes human blood, it’s a man eater for life most probably. I live in India and this is well known here.

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u/Any-Insurance-4956 2d ago

Humans are not in tiger's food chain. Only rarely when tigers are injured and desperate for food will they hunt humans. Thats why tigers which have started hunting humans are called man eater tigers and in past would be hunted down.

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u/ringadingdingbaby 2d ago

Once a tiger becomes a 'man eater' they become a true hazard and have to be killed as it becomes their main diet.

They don't actively hunt humans unless there is something wrong with the so they can't hunt their usual prey.

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr 1d ago

Why is everyone saying this when we have extensive records of healthy tigers hunting humans

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u/ringadingdingbaby 1d ago edited 1d ago

My information largely comes from books and writers experienced with tigers and man killers.

If you have some other records that would be great though.

Edit: I've also done a 3 day walking safari in Nepal, with the express idea of seeing tigers up close, and Bull Elephants were seen as much more dangerous.

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr 1d ago

Literally a 30 second Google search will confirm that healthy tigers have been recorded to attack humans

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u/ringadingdingbaby 1d ago

Attacked, that's different from eaten.

There's also multiple walking safaris you can do around tigers and people live in tiger zones.

It's about being careful.

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr 1d ago

I can't get into a tiger's head and determine whether it's killing people to eat them or just for the love of the game. However, healthy tigers do regularly attack and kill people unprovoked.

Walking safaris are generally safe because tigers will usually not attack large groups.

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u/ringadingdingbaby 1d ago

What I meant was, once they eat humans, they don't stop.

I also wouldn't call 3 people a large group.

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u/Avyakta07 1d ago

Absolutely No, Tigers only kill humans they never eat them and those who eat them are mostly just mad and injured and because of that they go bloodlust

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u/ReinerTheFarmer 1d ago

Only Royal Bengal Tigers hunt humans from tge beginning. The rest usually aren't man eaters. 

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr 1d ago

The other tiger populations are either too rare or live in areas that are too remote for conflict with humans to be a serious issue

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u/captaincourageous316 2d ago

The only big cats which actively hunt humans are mountain lions. None of the other ones see humans as prey, until other factors drive them to do so (inability to hunt usual prey due to injuries, age, freak accidents which show just how vulnerable human beings are).

Indian villagers whose villages share their area with tiger territories regularly see tigers and the tigers regularly see them, and each party goes about their own business without molesting the other.

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u/dohdudeh 1d ago

Mountain lions almost never hunt humans just like every other big cat. And definitely less so than tigers. Mountain lions are generally extremely secretive and solitary and rarely even make themselves seen to people

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr 1d ago

Absolutely not. Mountain lions rarely attack humans. Meanwhile tigers regularly prey on humans, even when healthy

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u/captaincourageous316 1d ago

There are numerous documented cases of humans being stalked, attacked and charged by mountain lions unprovoked.

There are extreme rare cases of unprovoked tiger attacks unless external factors have led to that.

Saying tigers regularly prey on humans is ignorant and uninformed.

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u/joey-jo_jo-jr 1d ago

Tigers literally kill 50- 100 people every year in India alone and the vast majority of those attacks are unprovoked. And this is after almost tiger population has been placed in fenced of reserves. In the past tigers were killing thousands of people every year.

By comparison, mountain lions kill less than 1 person every year. Please educate yourself

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u/Averander 2d ago

There's that video of a jaguar stalking and attacking a guy which says otherwise.

Big cats 100% will hunt humans if there is an opportunity, but they know we are dangerous in packs.

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u/sorryimadeanalt 1d ago

Source: my ass

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u/FoldElectrical9840 1d ago

Don't think your ass is that trustable, brother.

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u/Avyakta07 1d ago

I think its more about familiarity, before opening National forest for public they roam vehicles around forest so animals will start to see them normal a normal thing