The incredible moment when a tiger chased an entire herd of deer before sinking its teeth into its prey has been captured in a series of astonishing photographs. Wildlife photographer Sudhir Shivaram has shared the impressive array of images taken in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state in India.
He said he was amazed to witness the tiger pursuing the deer in dense forest near a lake before capturing and killing one, dragging it along the ground towards the water.
Sudhir said, “During our morning safari, we encountered this tigress that was sitting beside the safari track. She had her gaze fixed on this spotted deer in the grassland near a water body.
“The tigress was not remotely bothered by our presence. We observed her scanning the terrain and spotting these deer near the water body.
“She sprinted and focused on her target prey: there were alarm calls from deer everywhere, and they all began to flee in all directions.”
The tiger adjusted its direction to pinpoint its prey, and when the target leaped into the air, the spotted deer knew that death was right in front of her.
“We could see fear in her eyes: the tiger easily caught the deer as it landed in its lap.”
Sudhir mentioned that the tiger was so exhausted from the pursuit that it was compelled to leave the deer to rest.
He said, “The other spotted deer running behind the main one had a very narrow escape when it saw the tiger clinging to the deer. She escaped, thanking her stars.
“The tiger rested for some time, glancing in our direction before dragging the prey towards the water body. It submerged the deer before taking a sip of water; it was absolutely exhausted from the hunt.”
Then, the tiger dragged the deer back into the grassland, concealed it in the tall grass, and relaxed in the water before disappearing again into the tall grass.