Amur Tigers

[peter]

(04-16-2014, 10:35 AM)'Apollo' Wrote: I think Peter once posted about two types of Amur tigers.
The once from Northern China, Korea, Mangolia are generally bigger and heavier.
The other once from Siberia and Russia are smaller in built.
I guess Peter can explain it better again.


 

I can't get to the scan you referred to, but I will in some time. For now, I can say tigers in northern Asia were common in all of Korea, south-east Russia, northern China, eastern Mongolia and, of course, many parts north-east, east, south and south-west of the Caspian (up to the Elburz Mountain Range in north-west iran). 

Heptner and Sludskij (I got the German translation published in 1980) wrote Russian, Korean and Chinese hunters distinguished between Korean and Amur tigers. Dunbar Brander also distinguished between both. He wrote Korean tigers were somewhat smaller than Indian tigers, whereas Amur tigers were described as 'immense hairy animals'. He referred to footprints he saw himself close to Wladivostok.

Just before AVA collapsed, I was contacted by someone working for a wildlife conservation society in South-Korea. He send four articles (in English) on Korean tigers. Two had detailed measurements of two male tigers. I couldn't scan them yet, but I will in a few weeks.

The information I have points towards large and heavy animals in Manchuria. Those in Russia and North-Korea were smaller than Manchiurian tigers, but larger than those in southern parts of Korea. There is no doubt some islands at the south-western tip of Korea had tigers not so long ago. I also think the Caspian region had different types. One wonders if there are skulls in some museums in South-Korea and north-east China.

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