amur tiger

The Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) also known as the Siberian, Manchurian, Altaic, Korean or Ussuri tiger, is the world’s largest wildcat. This tiger subspecies ranges eastern Russia’s birch forests, China and North Korea (a region historically known as Manchuria). Though their northern forests provide the lowest human density of any tiger habitat and an excellent ecosystem, the Amur tiger numbers only 400 to 500 in the wild. Due to rigorous conservation efforts, Amur tiger populations stabilised over the past decade, but in October 2011 scientific testing confirmed that distemper appears to be a growing threat to the Amur tigers of Siberia. Distemper is found worldwide in domestic dogs and has caused infection and death in other wild species such as lynx and bobcats in Canada, Baikal seals in Russia, lions in the Serengeti ecosystem in Africa,  raccoons and the endangered black-footed ferret in the United States. Of the once eight tiger subspecies, three have become extinct during the 20th century. The remaining five are all endangered, due to trophy hunting, deforestation, road construction, forest fires, inadequate law enforcement and poaching. The Amur tiger is poached for body parts sold to the pseudo medicinal Asian market. The Chinese traditionally use tiger penis as treatment to cure impotency and the bones are used to treat rheumatism and osteo complaints. Adult male Amur tigers weigh up to 660 pounds and the females weigh anything from 200-370 lbs. Their prey includes Siberian roe deer, silka deer, brown bears and black bears. Despite the threat of predation, some brown bears actually benefit from the tiger’s presence by appropriating tiger kills that the bears may not be able to successfully hunt themselves. Tigers are renowned for their power and strength and by nature are illusive loners, mostly avoiding humans. They can, however, become dangerous man eaters, especially when traditional prey dies out in their natural habitat. Tigers mark large territories to keep rivals at bay and are the most fearsome hunters. A hungry tiger can eat up to 60 pounds in one hunt. Their distinctive coats are excellent camouflage. No two tigers have identical stripes/markings. Each tiger’s black/orange/white stripe patterned fur is as distinctive and individual as human fingerprints. Females birth 2-6 cubs, which they raise mostly alone. The cubs can hunt to survive by 18 months old, but stay with the tigress for 2-3 years, before leaving to establish their own territory. Vigorous conservation efforts are in place to keep these tigers from the brink of extinction. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) facilitated an agreement between China and Russia to partner to establish a transboundary cooperative conservation network to restore Amur tigers’ numbers, by setting up a protected area between China’s Jilin province the Russian Primorsky province. “WWF, in partnership with Russian authorities and other NGOs, is helping establish an ecological network of protected areas to secure well-connected habitat for the Amur tiger, funds anti-poaching patrols in the Russian Far East and supports an ungulate recovery program”. WWF Report