NEWS AND COMMENT-BRITISH COLOMBIA, CANADA: The cat’s owner was flabbergasted. He couldn’t believe it. Brothers Gavin and Cameron Sturrock watched as their Bengal cat, Tigger, faced off with a black bear which had wandered onto their property. The Bengal cat did that typical feline thing to make themselves larger by arching their back and confidently walked towards the bear. Tigger’s objective was to drive the bear away and bearing in mind the massive size difference it is astonishing to see that it worked.
From my perspective, there can only be one plausible reason: the bear wanted to avoid injury, even a minor injury because it’s might affect its ability to survive. And if the potential rewards for being in this area are assessed as being low by the bear, why take risks with their health? And I think wild animals think like that. They make quick assessments as to risk and reward based upon experience.
It looks astonishing and it looks like the bear is a coward and that the Bengal cat is fearless but it is not exactly like that. That said, Tigger is known to be mischievous and, yes, fearless, in line with the known reputation of the Bengal cat which as you know is a wild cat hybrid. Wild cat hybrids are generally a little bit sharper, slightly more athletic and bolder than your typical domestic cat. This is because of their inherited Asiatic leopard cat genes which are present inside of them. The Asiatic leopard cat is renowned for being very independent and like all small wild cats very aggressive when they need to be.
RELATED: Are Asian leopard cats dangerous?
Apparently, Tigger chases away dogs all the time. The brothers were loading their car for a camping trip outside their home in Canyon Heights, North Vancouver when the black bear turned up in their driveway. Tigger immediately confronted the bear.
Gavin said he tried to call Tigger away and then started to record the encounter on his phone. I guess the opportunity to make a nice TikTok video was too much to miss but sometimes cat owners tend to make a video of their cat doing something which is inherently dangerous when they should be doing something to stop their cat. 😎 No criticism intended.
Cameron said he was stunned when he saw Tigger walk towards the bear causing it to flee. He said: “I saw the cat just chased the bear and I was like no way.”
Although the bear had visited the neighbourhood before he/she has not been seen since!
