Animals have an innate fear of humans, we have been hunting them for generations and they know that no good would come to them if they ever came too close to a man. Though a lot of animals visit our watering hole regularly, there are very few who feel comfortable out in the open grasslands that we have inside our farm. The Thirunelly Tusker, which is the biggest elephant in this area is one such animal and you can feel the arrogance oozing out of him when he walks around purposefully in the grassland, dismissing the lesser bulls just by his presence. Another equally majestic animal is who I call Odin the big Gaur bull. He is named after the one-eyed Norse God who gave up an eye in return for strength and wisdom, and yes, our Odin also had just one eye.
Standing over 6 ft. tall, weighing more than a ton in weight, Odin in his prime was the biggest bull in this area.
Massive Gaur bull named Odin, with just one good eye
He must be around 12 to 13 years old now, pretty old for a Gaur out in the wild and though he has lost much of his weight, he is still a formidable animal. I have been seeing him for the last 5 years, he?d come down during the evenings, graze by the edge of the watering hole before proceeding to drink his fill, he’d then look towards the cottages, hold his gaze for a while before moving back into the jungle. He was in his prime the first time I saw him, it was such a majestic animal with rippling muscles and an imposing gait. During my sojourns into the forest, I have seen him multiple times, grazing or resting under a tree. Most of the Gaurs would turn and bolt if they see a human approach, but not Odin, he would hold his ground knowing well that he had nothing to fear from a puny human. We both would look at each other, and we would keep a respectful distance before moving on.
Gaurs are not very vocal animals, that is especially true in the evenings. So when I heard the distress-filled bellow coming from the edge of the forest at 8 in the night, I knew instinctively that something was wrong. I had seen Odin grazing in the grassland in the evening, and though he was past his prime, he was still a formidable opponent for any of the carnivores. A leopard wouldn’t dare attack a male Gaur, the wild dogs would be resting by this time and the only animal brave and strong enough to take on a mature Gaur was the Tiger. Yesterday night we had heard the Tiger call from close to the farm and during the early morning trek we saw huge pug-marks of the resident male Tiger, could it be that Odin had finally met his match? Then we heard the grunts of the Tiger mixed with the bellow of the Gaur, my fear was confirmed, it was clear that the battle was on. By the time I took the night-vision camera and raced to the watchtower, a few of our resident guests who had also heard the commotion were already there. We used the torch to see if we could see anything in the night. Apart from the alarmed spotted deer, we couldn’t see anything in the grassland, but we could still hear the battle-royale from the edge of the forest. At times the grunts would turn into thunderous roars, so it was clear that the Tiger had failed to deliver the killing blow ? Tigers kill their prey by breaking the neck. Now that Odin knew that the threat was upon him, it was clear that he?d be wary of another attack to the neck and as Gaur’s usually do when attacked, he himself would have gone into the attack mode. We could hear dry bamboo getting trampled under his weight as he was having a go at the Tiger using his massive horns. The Tiger had lost the surprise element as Odin knew that the attack was on, but the Tiger was still stronger, in his prime and the old Gaur bull had just one eye. It was too much of a handicap to give away ? surely, there was only one outcome to the end of this fight.
After 10 minutes or so, the noise died out as quickly as it had started ? only 2 things could have happened; Odin was dead or Odin, true to his name had outwitted the Tiger. If it was the latter, we knew that he?d come out into the grasslands once again because most of the animals felt safe close to human settlements. That is why you see spotted deer near human settlements inside the forest; the policy is ? my enemy?s enemy is my friend. We waited with baited breath, hoping to see a weary Odin limp back towards the watering hole. But there was no sign of Odin that night, perhaps it was the end of the majestic Gaur bull that roamed the Thirunelly forests for so long. Roam he would no more.
After talking to the excited guests, and telling them about what could have happened, I retired to my room. I was feeling dejected about Odin?s plight ? but that is nature?s way, survival of the fittest. Odin was probably no match for the big resident male. (Boy… how wrong was I!)
I knew I wouldn’t sleep well that night, and by day-break I was up and ready with my camera and my trekking kit, and thankfully it was not raining. So at first light I headed out into the forest to see first-hand what had happened during the night. I reached the edge of the forest and in no time I could see where the battle had taken place. There were pools of blood, but there was no sign of Odin or the Cat. I scoured around to see if there was a drag mark, the Tiger, if it had made the kill would have dragged the Gaur deeper into the jungle. Odin was close to 1000 kg, so he was far too heavy for a Tiger to lift, so it’d have left a distinct drag mark on the ground. I went around the area hoping that I wouldn’t see the mark and I was relieved when I didn’t. I could see the ground was trampled, large bamboo clumps were broken like twigs, there were pug-marks and hoof-marks everywhere ? it was clear that both the beasts had not backed out of the fight and they both had a real go at each other.
There was blood everywhere, it was a titanic battle between the Tiger and the Gaur.
I decided to see where the animals had gone and it was not hard to find the two distinct trails, one of the Tiger and then of Odin and to my dismay, I could see that Odin had bled profusely as he moved deeper into the jungle. I kept following the track for close to 500 meters and then my heart sank when I saw the pug-mark of the Tiger superimposed on Odin?s hoof mark, the Tiger had come back and had started trailing Odin once again.
I had to be extra careful now as I was tracking an injured Gaur bull who wouldn’t like my approach, worse still, The Tiger could have killed the Gaur at night and perhaps he was guarding the kill and he wouldn’t take kindly to my approach either. I inched forward, stopping and listening for any sounds that would give away the presence of either of these animals. The blood trail was easy to follow and soon I reached a swamp where Odin had rested, though there were chunks of clotted blood on the ground, it looked as though Odin was not as severely injured as I had earlier believed! The Tiger had also laid down perhaps 50 feet away from Odin, and they both had again gotten up and walked deeper into the jungle. I kept after them and wanted to know how it had ended. Soon I noticed that Odin had decided that he?d take a U-turn and come towards the farm once again! The Tiger had followed him as well, perhaps looking for another opportunity to strike! By this time I would have covered close to 2 KMs and with every passing step I could see that the blood trail was getting thinner and thinner, which was a good sign! We crossed some rivulets on the way and soon I passed the mota-teak tree (the big-teak tree) which is just a few hundred meters from the farm. Where was Odin heading, I wondered as I kept following the track and then I realized that it was just Odin?s track that I was following, the Tiger had stopped the chase and I couldn’t see the Tiger?s pug mark anymore. Retracing a few paces, I could see that the Tiger had turned and taken a forest path which went deeper into the jungle, perhaps he thought that he had no chance of surprising Odin again that night.
I continued on hoping to see Odin ahead of me and just as I broke cover and entered the grassland inside our farm, I saw the familiar figure of Odin, standing by the edge of the grassland grazing as though nothing had happened! I stood there looking at the old warrior, admiring his courage and will to live, he outsmarted and outfought the big male Tiger, the wily old Odin!
Odin was bleeding thanks to the attack last night, but the wounds weren’t life threatening
Old Odin with his battle scars
I coughed so that he knew I was near. He lifted his massive head and looked at me through his good eye! He knew it was me as he held his gaze and we made eye-contact for a few seconds before he lowered his head and started grazing again. I could see the injuries he had sustained, a big piece of the muscular rump that he had on his back was bitten off and there were clear bite and claw marks on his shoulder and back. A small piece of his nose was also torn off, but the big bull had proved once again that it was not time for him to go just yet. The Tiger had failed to get a grip on his neck and that had saved him.
True to his name, he must have lost an eye, but in return he is blessed with extraordinary strength and wisdom.
An interesting adventure from the jungles of Wayanad.
Anil
