Siberian Tiger
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| Panthera tigris altaica Temminck, 1884 |
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 Distribution of the Siberian Tiger (in red)
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The Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is a rare subspecies of tiger (P. tigris). Also known as the Amur, Korean, Manchurian, or North China Tiger, it is the largest and one of the most powerful naturally occurring felines in the family Felidae.
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[edit] Physical characteristics
On average, male Siberian Tigers weigh about 225 kilograms (500 lb) and female Amurs weigh about 160 kilograms (350 lb). However, males can weigh as much as 350 kilograms (800 lb) or in rare cases 408 kilograms (900 lb), a supposition based largely on the estimates of hunters. At these sizes, the Siberian Tiger is the largest natural creature of the cat family, though not as large as the liger, a panthera hybrid only found in captivity. The largest captive Siberian Tiger was 3.7 metres (12 ft) long and weighed over 423 kilograms (932 lb). Apart from its size, the Siberian Tiger is differentiated from other tiger subspecies by its pale fur and dark brown stripes.
[edit] Distribution and population
The Siberian Tiger is critically endangered. In the early 1900s, it lived throughout the Korean Peninsula, northeastern Mongolia, southeastern Russia, and northeastern China. Today, it has virtually disappeared from South Korea and is largely confined to a very small part of Russia's southern Far East (the Amur-Ussuri region of Primorye and Khabarovsk, a location where it and the Amur Leopard are now being actively protected). There are very few tigers in Manchuria (northeastern China) and fewer still in North Korea. Captive breeding and conservation programs are currently active.
The tiger population in the wild was probably lower than 50 in the 1930s, increasing to more than 200 in 1982. Illegal poaching has been brought under better control thanks to frequent road inspections.
A count, taken in 1996 reported 430 Siberian Tigers in the wild. However, Russian conservation efforts have led to a slight increase, or at least to a stable population of the subspecies, as the number of individuals in the Siberian Forests was estimated between 431 and 529 in the last count in 2005.[1]
[edit] Diet
Like all other cats, the Siberian Tiger is a carnivorous predator; an adept hunter, it preys primarily on wild boar, roe deer, sika deer and goral, but will also take smaller prey like lagomorphs (hares, rabbits, and pikas) and fish, including salmon. Unlike the Bengal Tiger, the Siberian Tiger rarely attacks humans. It has sometimes even been known to kill and eat Asiatic black bears and even brown bears. There have been cases in which an Siberian Tiger has killed adult brown bears. Since it is estimated that 85% of an Siberian Tiger's diet is composed of red deer and wild boar, protecting these and other prey animals from illegal hunting may be just as important to the tiger's survival as preventing direct killing of the big cats.
[edit] Captivity
The captive population of Siberian Tiger comprises several hundred specimens. A majority of these tigers are found in Europe and North America, but there are also a few specimens living in Asian zoos. The large, distinctive and powerful cats are popular zoo exhibits. The Siberian Tiger is bred within the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a project based on 83 wild caught tigers. According to most experts, this population is large enough to stay stable and genetically healthy. Today, approximately 160 Siberian Tigers participate in the SSP, which makes it the most extensively bred tiger subspecies within the programme. There are currently no more than around 255 tigers in the tiger SSP from three different subspecies. Developed in 1982, the Species Survival Plan for the Siberian Tiger is the longest running program for a tiger subspecies. It has been very fortunate and productive, and the breeding program for the Siberian Tiger has actually been used as a good example when new programs have been designed to save other animal species from extinction.
The Siberian Tiger is not very difficult to breed in captivity, but the possibility to release captive bred specimens into the wild is small. Conservation efforts that secure the wild population are therefore still of imperative importance. If a captive bred Siberian Tiger were to be released into the wild, it would lack the necessary hunting skills and starve to death. Captive bred tigers can also approach humans and villages since they have learned to associate humans with feeding and lack the natural shyness of the wild tigers. In a worst-case scenario, the starving tigers could even become man-eaters. Since tigers must be taught how to hunt by their mothers when they are still cubs, a program that aimed to release captive bred Siberian Tigers into the wild would face great difficulties.
[edit] Gallery
 A tiger at the Henry Doorly Zoo |
 A tiger in St. Louis Zoo |
[edit] References
- ^ Siberian Tigers Stable, According to Landmark Survey. National Geographic (2005-06-16). Retrieved on February 26, 2007.
- General references
- Cat Specialist Group (1996). Panthera tigris ssp. altaica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this subspecies is critically endangered and the criteria used
- Russian Plan to Save World's Largest Tiger Succeeds. Environment News Service. US: Environment News Service. Retrieved on July 26, 2005.
- John Seidensticker: Riding the Tiger. Tiger Conservation in Human-dominated Landscapes Cambridge University Press, 1999 ISBN 0521648351
[edit] External links
- Tijgeritorium Everything you want to know about tigers
- Save The Tiger Fund - About the Siberian Tiger
- Siberian Tigers at tigerhomes.org
- "Amur or the Siberian tiger" - Lairweb.org.nz
