For trapped predator and prey, instinct to survive overrules impluse to hunt: experts

A tiger and a dog trapped in a pit on a cardamom plantation at Kadukkacity, near Nettithozu, in Idukki on Sunday

Everybody wondered why the tiger didn’t eat the dog — after all, they were stuck barely a foot apart in a deep pit on a private cardamom plantation at Kadukkacity in Vandanmedu grama panchayat in Idukki for more than five hours on Sunday.

Kottayam Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) offered an explanation that surprised many: in moments of shared peril, the instinct to survive can overrule the impulse to hunt. “In such situations, wild animals usually don’t attack; their only aim is to escape the danger. An extraordinary glimpse of wilderness grace where survival eclipsed savagery.” said Mr. Rajesh.

The official further said that such incidents were reported in the past from various parts of the country. In a similar incident in February 2021, a leopard that was trapped along with a dog in the toilet of a farmhouse in Karnataka for nine hours, sat a few feet away from the canine and did not attack it.

Wildlife expert P.S. Easa observed that normally tigers do not hunt dogs, but leopards prey on dogs. “When a dog notices the presence of a tiger, it may bark, prompting the tiger to chase it, which can lead both animals to fall into a trap,” Dr. Easa further said that as both animals in Idukki found themselves trapped, their primary instinct was to escape.

After a detailed health check-up, the Forest department released the tiger into the Pandiyan Thodu area of Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) West Division on Sunday night. “The tiger was released in a low tiger density area to avoid territorial conflict,” said Mr. Rajesh.

Published - June 09, 2025 08:29 pm IST