The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
''
Panthera tigris tigris'' native to
Northeast China
Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...
, the
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...
,
[ and possibly ]North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...
, but currently inhabits mainly the Sikhote-Alin
The Sikhote-Alin (, , , ) is a mountain range in Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais, Russia, extending about to the northeast of the Russian Pacific seaport of Vladivostok. The highest summits are Tordoki Yani at above sea level, Ko Mountain () ...
mountain region in south-west Primorye Province in the Russian Far East. In 2005, there were 331–393 adult and subadult Siberian tigers in this region, with a breeding adult population of about 250 individuals. The population had been stable for more than a decade because of intensive conservation efforts, but partial surveys conducted after 2005 indicate that the Russian tiger population was declining. An initial census held in 2015 indicated that the Siberian tiger population had increased to 480–540 individuals in the Russian Far East, including 100 cubs. This was followed up by a more detailed census which revealed there was a total population of 562 wild Siberian tigers in Russia. As of 2014, about 35 individuals were estimated to range in the international border area between Russia and China.
As of 2022, about 756 Siberian tigers including 200 cubs were estimated to inhabit the Russian Far East.
The Siberian tiger is genetically close to the now-extinct Caspian tiger. Results of a phylogeographic study comparing mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...
from Caspian tigers and living tiger populations indicate that the common ancestor of the Siberian and Caspian tigers colonized Central Asia from eastern China, via the Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
−Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
corridor, and then subsequently traversed Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
eastward to establish the Siberian tiger population in the Russian Far East. The Caspian and Siberian tiger populations were the northernmost in mainland Asia.
The Siberian tiger was also called "Amur
The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...
tiger", "Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...
n tiger", "Korean tiger", and " Ussurian tiger", depending on the region where individuals were observed.
Taxonomy
''Felis tigris'' was the scientific name
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
proposed by Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
in 1758 for the tiger. In the 19th century, several tiger specimens were collected in East Asia and described:
*''Felis tigris altaicus'' proposed by Coenraad Jacob Temminck
Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch people, Dutch patrician, Zoology, zoologist and museum director.
Biography
Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. Fro ...
in 1844 were tiger skins with long hairs and dense coats sold in Japan, which originated in Korea, most likely from animals killed in the Altai and Pisihan Mountains.
*''Tigris longipilis'' proposed by Leopold Fitzinger
Leopold Joseph Franz Johann Fitzinger (13 April 1802 – 20 September 1884) was an Austrian zoologist.
Fitzinger was born in Vienna and studied botany at the University of Vienna under Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. He worked at the Vienna Naturhis ...
in 1868 was based on a long-haired tiger skin in the Natural History Museum, Vienna
The Natural History Museum Vienna () is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria.
The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museums and non-university research institutions in Austria and an important center of excellence for all matt ...
.
*''Felis tigris'' var. ''amurensis'' proposed by Charles Dode in 1871 was based on tiger skins from the Amur region.
*''Felis tigris coreensis'' by Emil Brass in 1904 was a tiger skin from Korea.
The validity of several tiger subspecies was questioned in 1999. Most putative subspecies described in the 19th and 20th centuries were distinguished on the basis of fur length and colouration, striping patterns and body size – characteristics that vary widely within populations. Morphologically, tigers from different regions vary little, and gene flow
In population genetics, gene flow (also known as migration and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic variation, genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent ...
between populations in those regions is considered to have been possible during the Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
. Therefore, it was proposed to recognize only two tiger subspecies as valid, namely ''Panthera tigris tigris'' in mainland Asia, and '' P. t. sondaica'' in the Greater Sunda Islands
The Greater Sunda Islands (Indonesian language, Indonesian and Malay language, Malay: ''Kepulauan Sunda Besar'') are four tropical islands situated within the Indonesian Archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean. The islands, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi and S ...
and possibly in Sundaland
Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of Southeast Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It inc ...
.
In 2015, morphological, ecological and molecular traits of all putative tiger subspecies were analysed in a combined approach. Results support distinction of the two evolutionary groups: continental and Sunda tigers. The authors proposed recognition of only two subspecies: namely ''P. t. tigris'' comprising the Bengal, Malayan, Indochinese
Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...
, South China
South China ( zh, s=, p=Huá'nán, j=jyut6 naam4) is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is ...
, Siberian and Caspian tiger populations; and ''P. t. sondaica'' comprising the Javan, Bali
Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
and Sumatran tiger
The Sumatran tiger is a population of ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali tiger, Bali and Javan tigers are extinct.
DNA sequencing, Sequ ...
populations.
In 2017, the Cat Specialist Group revised felid taxonomy and now recognizes all the tiger populations in mainland Asia as ''P. t. tigris''.
Phylogeny
Several reports have been published since the 1990s on the genetic makeup of the Siberian tiger and its relationship to other populations. One of the most important outcomes has been the discovery of low genetic variability in the wild population, especially when it comes to maternal or mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...
lineages. It seems that a single mtDNA haplotype
A haplotype (haploid genotype) is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent.
Many organisms contain genetic material (DNA) which is inherited from two parents. Normally these organisms have their DNA orga ...
almost completely dominates the maternal lineages of wild Siberian tigers. On the other hand, captive tigers appear to show higher mtDNA diversity. This may suggest that the subspecies has experienced a very recent genetic bottleneck
A population bottleneck or genetic bottleneck is a sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental events such as famines, earthquakes, floods, fires, disease, and droughts; or human activities such as genocide, speciocide, wid ...
caused by human pressure, with the founders of the captive population having been captured when genetic variability was higher in the wild.
At the start of the 21st century, researchers from the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, U.S. National Cancer Institute and Hebrew University of Jerusalem collected tissue samples from 20 of 23 Caspian tiger specimens kept in museums across Eurasia. They sequenced at least one segment of five mitochondrial genes and found a low amount of variability of the mitochondrial DNA in Caspian tigers as compared to other tiger subspecies. They re-assessed the phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...
relationships of tiger subspecies and observed a remarkable similarity between Caspian and Siberian tigers, indicating that the Siberian tiger is the genetically closest living relative of the Caspian tiger, which strongly implies a very recent common ancestry. Based on phylogeographic analysis, they suggested that the ancestor of Caspian and Siberian tigers colonized Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
less than 10,000 years ago via the Gansu−Silk Road region from eastern China, and subsequently traversed eastward to establish the Siberian tiger population in the Russian Far East. The events of the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
may have been the critical factor in the reciprocal isolation of Caspian and Siberian tigers from what was likely a single contiguous population.
Samples of 95 wild Amur tigers were collected throughout their native range to investigate questions relative to population genetic structure and demographic history. Additionally, targeted individuals from the North American ''ex situ'' population were sampled to assess the genetic representation found in captivity. Population genetic and Bayesian structure analyses clearly identified two populations separated by a development corridor in Russia. Despite their well-documented 20th century decline, the researchers failed to find evidence of a recent population bottleneck, although genetic signatures of a historical contraction were detected. This disparity in signal may be due to several reasons, including historical paucity in population genetic variation associated with postglacial colonisation and potential gene flow
In population genetics, gene flow (also known as migration and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic variation, genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent ...
from an extirpated Chinese population. The extent and distribution of genetic variation in captive and wild populations were similar, yet gene variants persisted ''ex situ'' that were lost ''in situ''. Overall, their results indicate the need to secure ecological connectivity between the two Russian populations to minimize loss of genetic diversity and overall susceptibility to stochastic Stochastic (; ) is the property of being well-described by a random probability distribution. ''Stochasticity'' and ''randomness'' are technically distinct concepts: the former refers to a modeling approach, while the latter describes phenomena; i ...
events, and support a previous study suggesting that the captive population may be a reservoir of gene variants lost ''in situ''.
In 2013, the whole genome of the Siberian tiger was sequenced and published. Tigers in mainland Asia fall into two clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
s: the northern clade comprises the Siberian and Caspian tiger populations, and the southern clade all remaining continental tiger populations. A study published in 2018 was based on 32 tiger specimens using a whole-genome sequencing for analysis. Results support six monophyletic tiger clades and indicate that the most recent common ancestor lived about 110,000 years ago.
Characteristics
The tiger is reddish-rusty, or rusty-yellow in colour, with narrow black transverse stripes. The body length is not less than , condylobasal length of skull , zygomatic width , and length of upper carnassial
Carnassials are paired upper and lower teeth modified in such a way as to allow enlarged and often self-sharpening edges to pass by each other in a shearing manner. This adaptation is found in carnivorans, where the carnassials are the modified f ...
tooth over long. It has an extended supple body standing on rather short legs with a fairly long tail.
Body size
In the 1980s, the typical weight range of wild Siberian tigers was indicated as for males and for females.[ Exceptionally large individuals were targeted and shot by hunters.]
In 2005, a group of Russian, American and Indian zoologists published an analysis of historical and contemporary data on body weights of wild and captive tigers, both female and male across all subspecies. The data used include weights of tigers that were older than 35 months and measured in the presence of authors. Their comparison with historical data indicates that up to the first half of the 20th century both male and female Siberian tigers were on average heavier than post-1970 ones. The average historical wild male Siberian tiger weighed and the female ; the contemporary wild male Siberian tiger weighs on average with an asymptotic limit being ; a wild female weighs on average. Historical Siberian tigers and Bengal tiger
The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...
s were the largest ones, whereas contemporary Siberian tigers are on average lighter than Bengal tigers. The reduction of the body weight of today's Siberian tigers may be explained by concurrent causes, namely the reduced abundance of prey because of illegal hunting and that the individuals were usually sick or injured and captured in a conflict situation with people.
Measurements taken by scientists of the ''Siberian Tiger Project'' in the Sikhote-Alin range from in head and body length measured in straight line, with an average of for males; and for females ranging from with an average of . The average tail measures in males and in females. The longest male measured in total length including a tail of and with a chest girth of . The longest female measured in total length including tail of and with a chest girth of .
A male captured by members of the ''Siberian Tiger Project'' weighed , and the largest radio-collared male weighed .
The Siberian tiger is often considered to be the largest tiger.
A wild male, killed in Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...
by the Sungari River in 1943, reportedly measured "over the curves", with a tail length of about . It weighed about . Dubious sources mention weights of and even .
In 2019, one of the largest Siberian tiger was recorded that was thought to weigh and measure over from nose to tail.
Skull
The skull of the Siberian tiger is characterized by its large size. The facial region is very powerful and very broad in the region of the canines. The skull
The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate.
In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...
prominences, especially in the sagittal crest
A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others. The presence of this ridge of bone indicates that there are excepti ...
and crista occipitalis, are very high and strong in old males, and often much more massive than usually observed in the biggest skulls of Bengal tigers. The size variation in skulls of Siberian tigers ranges from in nine individuals measured. A female skull is always smaller and never as heavily built and robust as that of a male. The height of the sagittal crest in its middle part reaches as much as , and in its posterior part up to .
Female skulls range from . The skulls of male Caspian tigers from Turkestan
Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...
had a maximum length of , while that of females measured . A tiger killed on the Sumbar River in Kopet Dag in January 1954 had a greatest skull length of , which is considerably more than the known maximum for this population and slightly exceeds that of most Siberian tigers. However, its condylobasal length was only , smaller than those of the Siberian tigers, with a maximum recorded condylobasal length of . The biggest skull of a Siberian tiger from northeast China measured in length, which is about more than the maximum skull lengths of tigers from the Amur region and northern India,[ with the exception of a skull of a northern Indian tiger from the vicinity of Nagina, which measured "over the bone".]
Fur and coat
The ground colour of Siberian tigers' pelage is often very pale, especially in winter coat. However, variations within populations may be considerable. Individual variation is also found in form, length, and partly in colour, of the dark stripes, which have been described as being dark brown rather than black.[
The fur of the Siberian tiger is moderately thick, coarse and sparse compared to that of other felids living in the former Soviet Union. Compared to the extinct westernmost populations, the Siberian tiger's summer and winter coats contrast sharply with other subspecies. Generally, the coat of western populations was brighter and more uniform than that of the Far Eastern populations. The summer coat is coarse, while the winter coat is denser, longer, softer, and silkier. The winter fur often appears quite shaggy on the trunk and is markedly longer on the head, almost covering the ears. Siberian and Caspian tigers had the thickest fur amongst tigers.][
The whiskers and hair on the back of the head and the top of the neck are also greatly elongated. The background colour of the winter coat is generally less bright and rusty compared to that of the summer coat. Because of the winter fur's greater length, the stripes appear broader with less defined outlines. The summer fur on the back is long, along the top of the neck, on the abdomen, and on the tail. The winter fur on the back is , on the top of the neck, on the throat, on the chest and on the abdomen. The whiskers are .]
Distribution and habitat
The Siberian tiger once inhabited much of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria and other parts of north-eastern China, the eastern part of Siberia and the Russian Far East, perhaps as far west as Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
and the area of Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
, where the Caspian tiger also reportedly occurred.
During the late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...
and Holocene
The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...
, it was likely connected to the South China tiger population through corridors in the Yellow River
The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
basin, before humans interrupted gene flow.
Today, its range stretches south to north for almost the length of Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai, informally known as Primorye, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krais of Russia, krai) of Russia, part of the Far Eastern Federal District in the Russian Far East. The types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...
and into southern Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is located in the Russian Far East and is administratively part of the Far Eastern Federal District. The administrative centre of the krai is the types of ...
east and south of the Amur River
The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ''proper'' is ...
. It also occurs within the Greater Xing'an Range, which crosses into Russia from China at several places in southwest Primorye. This region represents a merger zone of the East Asian temperate broadleaf and mixed forest
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions.
Thes ...
and the taiga
Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...
, resulting in a mosaic of forest types that vary in elevation and topography. Key habitats of the Siberian tiger are Korean pine forests with a complex composition and structure.
The faunal complex of the region is represented by a mixture of Asian and boreal life forms. The ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...
complex is represented by seven species, with Manchurian wapiti, Siberian roe deer, and wild boar being the most common throughout the Sikhote-Alin mountains but rare in higher altitude spruce-fir forests. Sika deer
The sika deer (''Cervus nippon''), also known as the northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south t ...
are restricted to the southern half of the Sikhote-Alin mountains. Siberian musk deer
The Siberian musk deer (''Moschus moschiferus'') is a musk deer found in the mountain forests of Northeast Asia. It is most common in the taiga of southern Siberia, but is also found in parts of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Manchuria and the Korean ...
and Amur moose are associated with the conifer forests and are near the southern limits of their distribution in the central Sikhote-Alin mountains.
In 2005, the number of Amur tigers in China was estimated at 18–22, and 331–393 in the Russian Far East, comprising a breeding adult population of about 250, fewer than 100 likely to be sub-adults, more than 20 likely to be less than 3 years of age. More than 90% of the population occurred in the Sikhote Alin mountain region.[ An unknown number of tigers survive in the reserve areas around Baekdu Mountain, on the border between China and North Korea, based on tracks and sightings.]
In August 2012, a Siberian tiger with four cubs was recorded for the first time in northeastern China's Hunchun National Nature Reserve located in the vicinity of the international borders with Russia and North Korea. Camera-trap surveys carried out in the spring seasons of 2013 and 2014 revealed between 27 and 34 tigers along the China-Russian border.[
In April 2014, ]World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...
personnel captured a video of a tigress with cubs in inland China.
The tiger population in the Changbai Mountains dispersed westwards between 2003 and 2016.
Camera trap surveys between 2013 and 2018 revealed about 55 Siberian tigers in four forested landscapes in northeastern China: Laoyeling, Zhangguangcai Range, Wandashan and Lesser Khingan Mountains. Feces
Feces (also known as faeces American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the ...
, urine and hair was used to genetically identify 30 tigers in this region. However, only Laoyeling is thought to support a breeding population.
Ecology and behavior
Siberian tigers are known to travel up to over ecologically unbroken country. In 1992 and 1993, the maximum total population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
of the Sikhote-Alin tiger population was estimated at 0.62 tigers in . The maximum ''adult'' population estimated in 1993 reached 0.3 tigers in , with a sex ratio of averaging 2.4 females per male. These density values were much lower than what had been reported for other subspecies at the time.
In 2004, dramatic changes in land tenure, population density, and reproductive output in the core area of the Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik Siberian Tiger Project were detected, suggesting that when tigers are well protected from human-induced mortality for long periods, the adult female population density increases significantly. When more adult females survived, the mothers shared their home range
A home range is the area in which an animal lives and moves on a periodic basis. It is related to the concept of an animal's territory which is the area that is actively defended. The concept of a home range was introduced by W. H. Burt in 1943. ...
s with their daughters once the daughters reached maturity. By 2007, population density of tigers was estimated at 0.8±0.4 tigers in in the southern part of Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik, and 0.6±0.3 tigers in in the central part of the protected area.
Siberian tigers share habitat with Amur leopards (''P. pardus orientalis''), but in the Changbai Mountains have been recorded more often in lower elevations than leopards.
Hunting and diet
Prey species of the tiger include ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...
s such as Manchurian wapiti (''Cervus canadensis xanthopygus''), Siberian musk deer
The Siberian musk deer (''Moschus moschiferus'') is a musk deer found in the mountain forests of Northeast Asia. It is most common in the taiga of southern Siberia, but is also found in parts of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Manchuria and the Korean ...
(''Moschus moschiferus''), long-tailed goral (''Naemorhedus caudatus''), moose
The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...
(''Alces alces''), Siberian roe deer (''Capreolus pygargus'') and sika deer
The sika deer (''Cervus nippon''), also known as the northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south t ...
(''Cervus nippon''), wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
(''Sus scrofa''), and even sometimes small size Asiatic black bears (''Ursus thibetanus'') and brown bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...
s (''Ursus arctos''). Siberian tigers also take smaller prey like hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...
s, rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
s, pika
A pika ( , or ) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal native to Asia and North America. With short limbs, a very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative the rabbit, but with short, rounded ears. ...
s and even salmon
Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
. Scat was collected along the international border between Russia and China between November 2014 and April 2015; 115 scat samples of nine tigers contained foremost remains of wild boar, sika deer and roe deer.
Between January 1992 and November 1994, 11 tigers were captured, fitted with radio-collars and monitored for more than 15 months in the eastern slopes of the Sikhote-Alin mountain range. Results of this study indicate that their distribution is closely associated with distribution of Manchurian wapiti, while distribution of wild boar was not such a strong predictor for tiger distribution. Although they prey on both Siberian roe deer and sika deer, overlap of these ungulates with tigers was low. Distribution of moose was poorly associated with tiger distribution. The distribution of preferred habitat of key prey species was an accurate predictor of tiger distribution.
Results of a three-year study on Siberian tigers indicate that the mean interval between their kills and estimated prey consumption varied across seasons: during 2009 to 2012, three adult tigers killed prey every 7.4 days in summer and consumed a daily average of ; in winter they killed more large-bodied prey, made kills every 5.7 days and consumed a daily average of .
Interspecific predatory relationships
Following a decrease of ungulate populations from 1944 to 1959, 32 cases of Amur tigers attacking both Ussuri brown (''Ursus arctos lasiotus'') and Ussuri black bears (''U. thibetanus ussuricus'') were recorded in the Russian Far East
The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...
, and hair of bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...
s were found in several tiger scat samples. Tigers attack black bears less often than brown bears, as the latter live in more open habitats and are not able to climb trees. In the same time period, four cases of brown bears killing female tigers and young cubs were reported, both in disputes over prey and in self-defense. Tigers mainly feed on the bear's fat deposits, such as the back, hams and groin
In human anatomy, the groin, also known as the inguinal region or iliac region, is the junctional area between the torso and the thigh. The groin is at the front of the body on either side of the pubic tubercle, where the lower part of the abdom ...
.
When Amur tigers prey on brown bears, they usually target young and sub-adult bears, besides small female adults taken outside their dens, generally when lethargic from hibernation
Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic reduction entered by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It is mos ...
. Predation by tigers on denned brown bears was not detected during a study carried between 1993 and 2002. Ussuri brown bears, along with the smaller black bears constitute 2.1% of the Siberian tiger's annual diet, of which 1.4% are brown bears.
The effect the presence of tigers has on brown bear behavior seems to vary. In the winters of 1970–1973, Yudakov and Nikolaev recorded two cases of bears showing no fear of tigers and another case of a brown bear changing path upon crossing tiger tracks. Other researchers have observed bears following tiger tracks to scavenge tiger kills and to potentially prey on tigers.[ Despite the threat of predation, some brown bears actually benefit from the presence of tigers by appropriating tiger kills that the bears may not be able to successfully hunt themselves.][ Brown bears generally prefer to contest the much smaller female tigers. During ]telemetry
Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', 'far off', an ...
research in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve, 44 direct confrontations between bears and tigers were observed, in which bears in general were killed in 22 cases, and tigers in 12 cases. There are reports of brown bears specifically targeting Amur leopards and tigers to abstract their prey. In the Sikhote-Alin reserve, 35% of tiger kills were stolen by bears, with tigers either departing entirely or leaving part of the kill for the bear. Some studies show that bears frequently track down tigers to usurp their kills, with occasional fatal outcomes for the tiger. A report from 1973 describes twelve known cases of brown bears killing tigers, including adult males; in all cases the tigers were subsequently eaten by the bears.
The relationship between the Amur tiger and the Himalayan bear is not specifically studied. Numerous publications on these species there are mainly episodic and survey data on this issue are collected by different authors in selected areas which do not give a complete picture of the nature.[
Tigers depress ]wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...
(''Canis lupus'') numbers, either to the point of localized extinction or to such low numbers as to make them a functionally insignificant component of the ecosystem. Wolves appear capable of escaping competitive exclusion from tigers only when human pressure decreases tiger numbers. In areas where wolves and tigers share ranges, the two species typically display a great deal of dietary overlap, resulting in intense competition. Wolf and tiger interactions are well documented in Sikhote-Alin
The Sikhote-Alin (, , , ) is a mountain range in Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais, Russia, extending about to the northeast of the Russian Pacific seaport of Vladivostok. The highest summits are Tordoki Yani at above sea level, Ko Mountain () ...
, where until the beginning of the 20th century, very few wolves were sighted. Wolf numbers may have increased in the region after tigers were largely eliminated during the Russian colonisation in the late 19th century and early 20th century. This is corroborated by native inhabitants of the region claiming that they had no memory of wolves inhabiting Sikhote-Alin until the 1930s, when tiger numbers decreased. Today, wolves are considered scarce in tiger habitat, being found in scattered pockets, and usually seen travelling as loners or in small groups. First hand accounts on interactions between the two species indicate that tigers occasionally chase wolves from their kills, while wolves will scavenge from tiger kills. Tigers are not known to prey on wolves, though there are four records of tigers killing wolves without consuming them. Tigers recently released are also said to hunt wolves.
This competitive exclusion of wolves by tigers has been used by Russian conservationists to convince hunters in the Far East to tolerate the big cats, as they limit ungulate populations less than wolves, and are effective in controlling wolf numbers.
Siberian tigers also compete with the Eurasian lynx
The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is one of the four wikt:extant, extant species within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. It is widely distributed from Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe to Cent ...
(''Lynx lynx'') and occasionally kill and eat them. Eurasian lynx remains have been found in the stomach contents of Siberian tigers in Russia. In March 2014, a dead lynx discovered in Bastak Nature Reserve bore evidence of predation by a Siberian tiger. The tiger apparently ambushed, pursued, and killed the lynx but only consumed it partially. This incident marks one of the first documented cases of a tiger preying on a lynx, and indicates that the tiger might have been more intent on eliminating a competitor than on catching prey.
Reproduction and life cycle
Siberian tigers mate at any time of the year. A female signals her receptiveness by leaving urine deposits and scratch marks on trees. She will spend 5 or 6 days with the male, during which she is receptive for three days. Gestation lasts from 3 to 3½ months. Litter
Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. The waste is objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, food wrappers, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles, but ...
size is normally two or four cubs but there can be as many as six. The cubs are born blind in a sheltered den and are left alone when the female leaves to hunt for food. Cubs are divided equally between sexes at birth. However, by adulthood there are usually two to four females for every male. The female cubs remain with their mothers longer, and later they establish territories close to their original ranges. Males, on the other hand, travel unaccompanied and range farther earlier in their lives, making them more vulnerable to poachers
Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the hunti ...
and other tigers.
A Siberian tiger family comprising an adult male, a female and three cubs were recorded in 2015.
At 35 months of age, tigers are sub-adults. Males reach sexual maturity at the age of 48 to 60 months.
The average lifespan for Siberian tigers ranges from 16–18 years. Wild individuals tend to live between 10–15 years, while in captivity individuals may live up to 25 years.
Threats
Results of genetic analysis of 95 wild Siberian tiger samples from Russia revealed that genetic diversity
Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It ranges widely, from the number of species to differences within species, and can be correlated to the span of survival for a species. It is d ...
is low, only 27–35 individuals contributed to their gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
s. Further exacerbating the problem is that more than 90% of the population occurred in the Sikhote Alin mountain region. Tigers rarely move across the development corridor, which separates this sub-population from the much smaller sub-population in southwest Primorye province.
The winter of 2006–2007 was marked by heavy poaching
Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...
. Poaching of tigers and their wild prey species is considered to be driving the decline, although heavy snows in the winter of 2009 could have biased the data. In northern China's Huang Ni He National Nature Reserve, poachers set up foremost snare trap
Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and wildlife ma ...
s, but there is not sufficient personnel to patrol this area throughout the year. In Hunchun National Nature Reserve, poaching of ungulate species impedes recovery of the tiger population.
In the past
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
, illegal deforestation and bribery of park rangers facilitated poaching of Siberian tigers. Local hunters had access to a formerly sealed off lucrative Chinese market, and this once again put the region's tiger population at risk of extinction. While improvement in the local economy has led to greater resources being invested in conservation efforts, an increase in economic activity has led to an increased rate of development and deforestation. The major obstacle in preserving the tiger is the enormous territory individual tigers require; up to is needed by a single female and more for a single male.
The Siberian tiger was once common in the Korean Peninsula. It was eradicated during the period of Korea under Japanese rule
From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon".
Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...
between 1910 and 1945.
Conservation
Tigers are included on CITES Appendix I, banning international trade. All tiger range state Range state is a term generally used in zoogeography and conservation biology to refer to any nation that exercises jurisdiction over any part of a range which a particular species, taxon or biotope inhabits, or crosses or overflies at any time on i ...
s and countries with consumer markets have banned domestic trade as well. At the 14th Conference of the Parties to CITES in 2007, stronger enforcement measures were called for, as well as an end to tiger farming.
In 1992, the ''Siberian Tiger Project'' was founded, with the aim of providing a comprehensive picture of the ecology of the Amur tiger and the role of tigers in the Russian Far East through scientific studies. By capturing and outfitting tigers with radio collars, their social structure, land use patterns, food habits, reproduction, mortality patterns and their relation with other inhabitants of the ecosystem, including humans is studied. These data compilations will hopefully contribute toward minimizing poaching threats because of traditional hunting. The ''Siberian Tiger Project'' has been productive in increasing local capacity to address human-tiger conflict with a ''Tiger Response Team'', part of the Russian government's ''Inspection Tiger'', which responds to all tiger-human conflicts; by continuing to enhance the large database on tiger ecology and conservation with the goal of creating a comprehensive Siberian tiger conservation plan; and training the next generation of Russian conservation biologists.
In August 2010, China and Russia agreed to enhance conservation and cooperation in protected areas in a transboundary area for Amur tigers. China has undertaken a series of public awareness campaigns including celebration of the first ''Global Tiger Day'' in July 2010, and ''International Forum on Tiger Conservation and Tiger Culture'' and ''China 2010 Hunchun Amur Tiger Culture Festival'' in August 2010.[Global Tiger Initiative. (2011)]
''Global Tiger Recovery Program 2010–2022''
. Global Tiger Initiative Secretariat, Washington.
Reintroduction
Inspired by findings that the Amur tiger is the closest relative of the Caspian tiger, there has been discussion whether the Amur tiger could be an appropriate subspecies for reintroduction into a safe place in Central Asia. The Amu-Darya Delta was suggested as a potential site for such a project. A feasibility study was initiated to investigate if the area is suitable and if such an initiative would receive support from relevant decision makers. A viable tiger population of about 100 animals would require at least of large tracts of contiguous habitat with rich prey populations. Such habitat is not presently available in the delta and so cannot be provided in the short term. The proposed region is therefore unsuitable for the reintroduction, at least at this stage of development.
A second possible introduction site in Kazakhstan is the Ili River delta at the southern edge of Lake Balkhash. The delta is situated between the Saryesik-Atyrau Desert and the Taukum Desert and forms a large wetland of about . Until 1948, the delta was a refuge of the extinct Caspian tiger. Reintroduction of the Siberian tiger to the delta has been proposed. Large populations of wild boar inhabit the swamps of the delta. The reintroduction of the Bukhara deer, which was once an important prey, is under consideration. The Ili delta is therefore considered as a suitable site for introduction.
In 2010, Russia exchanged two captive Siberian tigers for Persian leopards with the Iranian government, as conservation groups of both countries agreed on reintroducing these animals into the wild within the next five years. This issue is controversial since only 30% of such releases have been successful. In addition, the Siberian tiger is not genetically identical to the Caspian tiger. Another difference is the climatic, with temperatures higher in Iran than in Siberia. Introducing exotic species into a new habitat could inflict irreversible and unknown damage. In December 2010, one of the tigers exchanged died in Eram Zoo in Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
. Nevertheless, the project has its defenders, and Iran has successfully reintroduced the Persian onager
The Persian onager (''Equus hemionus onager''), also called the Persian wild ass or Persian zebra, is a subspecies of onager (Asiatic wild ass) native to Iran. It is listed as Critically Endangered species, Critically Endangered, with no more tha ...
and Caspian red deer.
In 2005, re-introduction was planned as part of the rewilding project at Pleistocene Park in the Kolyma River
The Kolyma (, ; ) is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia.
The Kolyma is frozen to depths of several metres for about 250 days each year, b ...
basin in northern Yakutia
Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...
, Russia, provided the herbivore population has reached a size warranting the introduction of large predators.
In captivity
In recent years, captive breeding of tigers in China has accelerated to the point where the captive population of several tiger subspecies exceeds 4,000 animals. Three thousand specimens are reportedly held by 10–20 "significant" facilities, with the remainder scattered among some 200 facilities. This makes China home to the second largest captive tiger population in the world, after the U.S., which in 2005 had an estimated 4,692 captive tigers.[Nowell, K., Ling, X. (2007]
''Taming the tiger trade: China's markets for wild and captive tiger products since the 1993 domestic trade ban''
. TRAFFIC East Asia, Hong Kong, China. In a census conducted by the U.S.-based Feline Conservation Federation, 2,884 tigers were documented as residing in 468 American facilities.
In 1986, the Chinese government established the world's largest Siberian tiger breeding base, the Harbin Siberian Tiger Park, and was meant to build a Siberian tiger gene pool to ensure the genetic diversity of the tiger. The Park and its existing tiger population would be further divided into two parts, one as the protective species for genetic management and the other as the ornamental species. It was discovered that when the Heilongjiang Northeast Tiger Forest Park was founded it had only 8 tigers, but according to the current breeding rate of tigers at the park, the worldwide number of wild Siberian tigers will break through 1,000 in late 2010. South Korea expected to receive three tigers pledged for donation in 2009 by Russia in 2011.
Attacks on humans
The Siberian tiger very rarely becomes a man-eater. Numerous cases of attacks on humans were recorded in the 19th century, occurring usually in central Asia excluding Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and the Far East. Tigers were historically rarely considered dangerous unless provoked, though in the lower reaches of the Syr-Darya, a tiger reportedly killed a woman collecting firewood and an unarmed military officer whilst passing through reed thickets. Attacks on shepherds were recorded in the lower reaches of Ili. In the Far East, during the middle and late 19th century, attacks on people were recorded. In 1867 on the Tsymukha River, tigers killed 21 men and injured 6 others. In China's Jilin Province, tigers reportedly attacked woodsmen and coachmen, and occasionally entered cabins and dragged out both adults and children.
According to the Japanese Police Bureau in Korea, in 1928 a tiger killed one human, whereas leopards killed three, wild boars four and wolves killed 48. Six cases were recorded in 20th century Russia of unprovoked attacks leading to man-eating behaviour. Provoked attacks are however more common, usually the result of botched attempts at capturing them. In December 1997, an injured Amur tiger attacked, killed and consumed two people. Both attacks occurred in the Bikin River valley. The anti-poaching task force ''Inspection Tiger'' investigated both deaths, tracked down and killed the tiger.
In January 2002, a man was attacked by a tiger on a remote mountain road near Hunchun
Hunchun is a county-level city in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture within Jilin province to the far east. It borders North Hamgyong Province in North Korea and Primorsky Krai in Russia, has over 250,000 inhabitants, and covers 5,145&nbs ...
in Jilin province, China, near the borders of Russia and North Korea. He suffered compound fractures but managed to survive. When he sought medical attention, his story raised suspicions as Siberian tigers seldom attack humans. An investigation of the attack scene revealed that raw venison carried by the man was left untouched by the tiger. Officials suspected the man to be a poacher who provoked the attack. The following morning, tiger sightings were reported by locals along the same road, and a local TV station did an on-site coverage. The group found tiger tracks and blood spoor in the snow at the attack scene and followed them for approximately 2,500 meters, hoping to catch a glimpse of the animal. Soon, the tiger was seen ambling slowly ahead of them. As the team tried to get closer for a better camera view, the tiger suddenly turned and charged, causing the four to flee in panic. About an hour after that encounter, the tiger attacked and killed a 26-year-old woman on the same road. Authorities retrieved the body with the help of a bulldozer. By then, the tiger was found lying 20 meters away, weak and barely alive. It was successfully tranquilized and taken for examination, which revealed that the tiger was anemic and gravely injured by a poacher's snare around its neck, with the steel wire cutting deeply down to the vertebrae, severing both trachea and esophagus. Despite extensive surgery by a team of veterinarians, the tiger died of wound infection. Subsequent investigation revealed that the first victim was a poacher who set multiple snares that caught both the tiger and a deer. The man was later charged for poaching and harming endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
. He served two years in prison. After being released from prison, he worked in clearing the forest of old snares.
In an incident at the San Francisco Zoo
The San Francisco Zoo and Gardens is a zoo located on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, in the southwestern corner of the city between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway. The zoo's main entrance (o ...
in December 2007, a tiger escaped and killed a visitor, and injured two others. The animal was shot by the police. The zoo was widely criticized for maintaining only a fence around the tiger enclosure, while the international standard is . The zoo subsequently erected a taller barrier topped by an electric fence. One of the victims admitted to taunting the animal.
Zookeepers in Anhui
Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
province and the cities of Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
and Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
were attacked and killed in 2010.[Siberian tiger kills zookeeper](_blank)
, TRHK News, 16 August 2010 In January 2011, a tiger attacked and killed a tour bus driver at a breeding park in Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...
province. Park officials reported that the bus driver violated safety guidelines by leaving the vehicle to check on the condition of the bus. In September 2013, a tiger mauled a zookeeper to death at a zoo in western Germany after the worker forgot to lock a cage door during feeding time. In July 2020, a female tiger attacked and killed a 55-year-old zookeeper at the Zürich Zoo in Switzerland.
In culture
The English name 'Siberian tiger' was coined by James Cowles Prichard in the 1830s. The name 'Amur tiger' was used in 1933 for Siberian tigers killed by the Amur
The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...
River for an exhibition in the American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
.
The Tungusic peoples
Tungusic peoples are an ethnolinguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages (or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are native to Siberia, Mongolia and China.
The Tungusic language family is divided into two main branches, Northern ...
considered the tiger a near-deity and often referred to it as "Grandfather" or "Old man". The Udege and Nanai people
The Nanai people () are a Tungusic people of East Asia who have traditionally lived along Heilongjiang (Amur), Songhuajiang (Sunggari) and Wusuli River (Ussuri) on the Middle Amur Basin. The ancestors of the Nanai were the Wild Jurchens of no ...
call it "Amba". The Manchu
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...
considered the Siberian tiger as Hu Lin, the king.[ Since the tiger has a mark on its foreheads that looks like a ]Chinese character
Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only on ...
for 'King' ( zh, s=, hp=Wáng), or a similar character meaning "Great Emperor", it is revered by the Udege and Chinese people
The Chinese people, or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with Greater China, China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation.
Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by ...
.[ The Siberian tiger is a national symbol of the ]Korean people
Koreans are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. The majority of Koreans live in the two Korean sovereign states of North and South Korea, which are collectively referred to as Korea. As ...
due to its profound impact on traditional Korean culture.
See also
* Tiger populations
** Mainlaind Asian populations
*** Bengal tiger
The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...
*** Caspian tiger
*** Indochinese tiger
The Indochinese tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies that is native to Southeast Asia. This population occurs in Myanmar and Thailand. In 2011, the population was thought to comprise 342 individuals, including 85 in ...
*** Malayan tiger
The Malayan tiger is a tiger from a specific population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies that is native to Peninsular Malaysia. This population inhabits the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula, and has been classified ...
*** South China tiger
** Sunda island populations
*** Bali tiger
*** Bornean tiger
*** Javan tiger
The Javan tiger was a ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' population native to the Indonesian island of Java. It was one of the three tiger populations that colonized the Sunda Islands during the last glacial period 110,000–12,000 years ago. It used t ...
*** Sumatran tiger
The Sumatran tiger is a population of ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali tiger, Bali and Javan tigers are extinct.
DNA sequencing, Sequ ...
*
* Amur leopard
* Bergmann's rule
* Holocene extinction
The Holocene extinction, also referred to as the Anthropocene extinction or the sixth mass extinction, is an ongoing extinction event caused exclusively by human activities during the Holocene epoch. This extinction event spans numerous families ...
References
External links
IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group: Tiger (''Panthera tigris'')
IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group : Amur (''P. t. altaica'')
21st Century Tiger
Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA) – Conserving Amur leopards and tigers in the Russian Far East and China
World Wide Fund for Nature: ''Amur tiger''
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070823234120/http://www.wcs.org/international/Asia/russia/siberiantigerproject Wildlife Conservation Society's Siberian Tiger Project
Amur.org.uk: Preserving leopards and tigers in the wild
The Amur Tiger Programme : Two Adult Tigers Tagged in the Ussuri Nature Reserve
*
{{Authority control
Siberian tiger
The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies ''Panthera tigris tigris'' native to Northeast China, the Russian Far East, and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korea, Korean Peninsula, but currently ...
Mammals of China
Mammals of Russia
Fauna of the Russian Far East
Fauna of Northeast Asia
Northeast China
Siberian Tiger Re-population Project
National symbols of South Korea
Mammals described in 1884
Articles containing video clips