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

[peter]

ABOUT TIGER 'OCHKARIK' AND BROWN BEAR 'CHLAMID' - 2 - A FEW MORE QUESTIONS

First of all thanks for the interesting and extended response, Nyers. As detailed as possible, I'd say. I also thought I saw a clear conclusion between the lines. 

In both articles you referred to, Batalov suggested the 'very large' bear killed and eaten by 'Ochkarik' was the same bear that had been robbing tigress 'Rachel' ('Rachelle') for quite some time. The action of the tiger, he added, could have been an act of revenge, because 'Ochkarik' was the father of 'Rachelle's cubs. 

This remark suggests Batalov agrees with John Vaillant, who wrote Amur tigers, and males in particular, are vindictive animals well capable of holding a grudge ('The Tiger', 2010, pp. 138-140, 158, 171). Although Vaillant initially seemed to refer to Amur tigers and humans only, he later made it clear bears should be included: 

" ... Amur tigers will occasionally kill bears solely on something we might recognize as principle ... " ('The Tiger', 2010, pp. 140). 

This conclusion, he added, was based on observations of hunters and biologists. Some posters thought Vaillant's remark was largely based on hearsay, but Batalov's remark on the possible 'motive' of 'Ochkarik' seems to point in another direction. Batalov is a biologist and an undisputed authority on both bears and tigers. Furthermore, he had intimate knowledge about 'Rachel', 'Ochkarik' and the brown bear he decribed as a 'maniac'. This means his conclusion carries a lot of weight.  

As for the questions.

1 - Male brown bears and male tigers 

Vaillant, who talked to hunters and biologists, wrote 

" ... An Amur tiger's sense of superiority and dominance over his realm is absolute: because of his position in the forest hierarchy, the only force a male will typically submit to is a stronger tiger or, occasionally, a large brown bear ... " ('The Tiger', pp. 139-140). 

Over the years, interactions between adult male Amur tigers and adult male brown bears have been discussed at length by many. Posters never got to a conclusion and this seems to be the case for authorities as well. Rukovsky, for example, wrote an average male tiger is stronger than an average male bear, but Pikunov and Krechmar thought there was little to choose between both. Kerley said just about anything is possible, whereas most of her collegues (one of them Miquelle) thought a large brown bear would be 'too risky'. There was, and is, however, no dispute about interactions between male tigers and large male brown bears: nearly all authorities (Baikov, Sysoev, Pikunov, Krechmar and a host of others) thought (think) a 'very large' male brown bear, up to 3 times as heavy as an average male Amur tiger, would be out of the predatory reach of a male tiger. 

Brown bear 'Chlamid', judging from the photographs published, was a large male brown bear about 3-4 times as heavy as 'Rachel'. According to Batalov, who has weighed many bears, Tiger 'Ochkarik', the father of the cubs of 'Rachel', was 160-180 kg. In spite of the significant difference in weight, Batalov suggests 'Chlamid' was killed and eaten by 'Ochkarik'. Even if it was not 'Chlamid', it was a 'very large' animal. So large, it surprised Batalov. 

One could say this incident more or less 'proves' many opinions on Amur tigers and Ussuri brown bears, including those of 'authorities', need a serious update, if not a complete review.  
 
Now imagine you're someone interested in Amur tigers and Ussuri brown bears. You're not a member of a forum, but you visit them. You are a reader and you want to get to an opinion on Amur tigers and brown bears. What would be your answer?

2 - About the nature of fights between adult male tigers and adult male brown bears

Tigers are ambush hunters. Although most tigers hunt animals up to their own weight or a bit heavier, some individuals specialize on large herbivores. Those who had the opportunity to witness an attack, agree experienced tigers are able to kill large herbivores well exceeding their own weight in a matter of minutes. If the animal targeted is both large and agile, however, the usual result will be a struggle. The reason is the animal targeted is able to prevent the tiger from reaching a vulnarable spot. Although the outcome of a struggle between two large, agile and well-armed animals always is close to unpredictable, tigers seem to be victorious most of the time. 

Fights between tigers and (female brown) bears of (near) similar size (150-200 kg) in the Russian Far East have been observed more than once in the period 1992-2021. Although some were quite lengthy (up to 20 minutes), tigers were victorious in all cases. Every poster interested in tigers and bears knows about these incidents, but not a few of those interested in bears maintain the tiger had a significant advantage because of it's ability to surprise (ambush) bears. A bit strange, as 'lengthy' and 'ambush' oppose each other.  

Anyhow. The question is if you are able to find and (re)post detailed accounts of attacks that resulted in a lengthy fight. Unfortunately, the information I had was lost during a few crashes. 

3 - Amur and Indian tigers

Biologists recently concluded there's, sizewise, little to choose between Indian and Amur tigers today. Indian tigers (and those in northern India and Nepal in particular), if anything, seem to be a bit longer and, in particular, heavier. Indian tigers, apart from specialists involved in large herbivores (wild buffalo and gaur), are mainly deer hunters (cheetal and sambar). Amur tigers tigers also take deer, but wild boars, if available, seem to be preferred. Not a few adults (males and females) specialize on bears in some seasons.  

Chances are different habits resulted in different animals over time. Over the years, many camera trap photographs have been published. The question is if you have seen consistent differences between both subspecies. If so, could you describe a few? Reply