ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[peter]

THE RELATION BETWEEN HEEL WIDTH AND WEIGHT IN WILD MALE AMUR TIGERS - III (continuation of II)

f - Heel width and weight of 'Banzai'

In 2011, 'With love, from the Amur tiger' (M. Dupuis) was published by Tendua (Association for Biodiversity Conservation). The story of Myriam Dupuis was discussed in different forums, because it has detailed information about a young adult male Amur tiger captured in a foot snare in the Ussurisk Reserve in Primorye (Russia) on May 21, 2011. 

Dupuis took a number of photographs. This post has scans of 3 photographs. This one was taken just before or after the male tiger called 'Banzai' had been darted:
 

*This image is copyright of its original author

This photograph shows 'Banzai' had long and sharp canines. The incisors show little wear as well, meaning he was a young adult male when he was captured and measured. According to Dupuis, the staff also thought he was quite young:

" ... According to the deputy director, the animal should weigh about 150 kg, probably a young individual ... " ('With Love, from the Amur tiger', pp. 7 of 13) 

*This image is copyright of its original author

After he had been measured, 'Banzai' was weighed: 

*This image is copyright of its original author

The tiger was measured 'over curves'. The measurements show 'Banzai' still had some growing to do. The same was true for another young adult male captured in Ussurisk ('Luke'). In spite of that, both 'Banzai' (207 kg.) and 'Luke' (212 kg. ) were heavy. In fact, they still are the heaviest wild male Amur tigers actually weighed. 

Tiger 'Luke' was weighed in winter, meaning he could have been a bit heavier than in spring or summer (most Amur tigers seem to thrive in winter), but 'Banzai' was weighed in May. The photographs show he was in good condition, almost lanky, when he was captured. 

In order to prevent posting more scans of the story, I decided for a table with the vital statistics of 'Banzai'. It is an original for Wildfact:

*This image is copyright of its original author

  
All measurements are in cm. The weight is in kg. 

One more remark to finish the post. In her story, Dupuis says the " ... width of the front leg ... " (pp. 9 of 13) was 11,5 cm. My guess is she referred to the width of the heel of the front paw. Her story has a photograph showing the width of the pad of the hindleg was measured.  

It's remarkable, by the way, that both young adult males were heavier than all other males actually weighed in Russia. This although both, most probably as a result of their age, were about 4-5 inches shorter in head and body length than the males in WCS-table published in 2005. The question, again, is if the table is representative.  

The scale showed 'Banzai' was 213 kg. Without the tarp, the strings and the collar, 207 kg. remained. Reply