Maharashtra: Camera shoots hyena feeding on sloth bear at Melghat Tiger Reserve

Camera trap at Melghat Tiger Reserve captures a rare photo

What can be termed as the rarest of rare documentation, the camera trap installed at Melghat Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra has captured an image of a striped hyena carrying a sloth bear head in its mouth.

"We keep getting surprised by what Melghat Tiger Reserve has to offer... Camera trap images like this one, give a unique perspective about how wilderness behaves when left to itself," said Jayoti Banerjee, chief conservator and field director of Melghat Tiger Reserve, adding, "It was captured in May. The bear head shows it was most probably a cub as hyenas can hunt them. There are high chances that hyenas must be scavenging on it."

Classified as "near threatened", with a global population estimated to be under 10,000, the striped hyena is the only species of this animal that is found in the Indian subcontinent.