 | Amur Tiger
Panthera tigris altaica  Fascinating Facts - The stripes on a tiger are like fingerprints; no two are exactly alike. This feature may allow tigers to recognize each other.
- Tiger parts are used in traditional asian medicines. Many superstitions also endanger the tiger.
Physical Characteristics The tiger’s orange fur with black stripes allows these large animals to blend perfectly with grasses and shrubs when stalking their prey. Amur (Siberian) tigers are the largest of all living cats, measuring up to 10 feet long with males weighing more than 600 pounds. It has paler coloring than most tigers, blending with the snowy landscapes of southeastern Siberia, and the fur is longer and heavier. The Amur tiger is further distinguished by a large ruff of white fur under the cheeks and jaw.
Tigers are not fast runners. Their hind limbs are longer than the forelimbs as an adaptation for jumping. Their forelimbs and shoulders are heavily muscled and the forepaws have long sharp retractile claws, enabling them to grab and hold prey once contact is made.
The skull is foreshortened, thus increasing the shearing leverage of the powerful jaws. Ears have well developed ear flaps which are sound collectors. The tongue is coated with sharp-pointed papillae which retain and lacerate food and rip flesh off a carcass. Large canines are used to bring down and hold prey. Habitat/Diet Amur tigers are found in Russia’s Sikhote-Alin mountain range east of the Amur River. It is also rarely found in Manchuria and Korea. These terrestrial, nocturnal and crepuscular (active in twilight) cats live in deciduous and coniferous forests.
In the wild, these carnivorous mammals eat elk, deer and wild boar. At the Zoo, they are fed a diet of fortified horsemeat, chicken and rabbit. Social Behavior Amur tigers are usually solitary, except for courting pairs and females with young. A male’s range may overlap the ranges of several females but not other male ranges. Females are not territorial and adult females sometimes share a home range. Tigers are not social, but may have an amicable relationship with known or related tigers. Avoidance rather than fighting seems to be their rule.
To hunt, the tiger depends on sight and hearing more than on smell. Tigers stalk slowly through cover, approaching prey from side or rear. They leap on the prey trying to throw it down and grab its throat. Tigers kill by strangulation or a bite to the back of the neck. Tigers fail in at least 90% of their attempts to capture animals.
Females are sexually mature between 4 to 5 years and give birth every 2 to 2.5 years. After a 102 to 112 day gestation, a litter of 3 or 4 cubs is born. They begin to travel with the mother and learn how to hunt when they are 5 or 6 months old. The cubs are capable killers at 11 months. Status In The Wild Siberian tigers are classified as endangered. A recent census estimated the wild population at about 350. Until recently, there were nine subspecies of Panthera tigris. The past few decades have witnessed the extinction of three subspecies, the Caspian, Bali and Javan tigers. Estimates to the six remaining subspecies in the wild are as follows (2009): Bengal 2,500, Indochinese 2,500, Sumatran 550, Amur (Siberian) 350, Malayan 700, and the South China tiger is thought to be already extinct in the wild. Although protected by law, tiger numbers continue to dwindle because their forest habitats are being cut down at a rapid rate, their food supply is disappearing, and human populations are moving into their traditional range. Tigers are still hunted illegally for sport, their beautiful coats, and for traditional Asian medicine.
There are more than 400 Amur tigers living in captivity worldwide, including more than 150 in over 50 AZA institutions participating in the Amur Tiger Species Survival Plan. This means that the captive population is more than twice the size of the wild population. Luckily for this species, tigers breed well in captivity. Unluckily, captivity may prove to be their most durable habitat. Other The Zoo's Amur tiger, Tony, can be seen in a naturalistic outdoor setting adjoining the Lion House. |
