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ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)
ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)
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ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)
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 (04-25-2018, 02:36 AM)peter Wrote: BETTY  *This image is copyright of its original author
BETTY
Greatest total length of the Hamamatsu zoo tiger The relation between greatest total skull length and zygomatic width in the Koln zoo tiger is 1,52. Using the scale in the photograph, the conclusion is that the zygomatic width is about 284 mm., whereas the greatest total length is about 431 mm. In the Hamamatsu zoo tiger, the relation between greatest total skull length and zygomatic width is 1,34-1,35. We know that the zygomatic width is 284 mm. This means that the greatest total skull length should be about 380-383 mm. As 380 is mentioned in the paper, one has to assume that the greatest total length is 380 mm. The projected condylobasal length would be about 335 mm. Are you sure the translation is ok? Greatest skull length of the Koln zoo tiger The photograph used to get to an estimate more or less compares to plate A in the paper on the skull of the Hamamatsu zoo tiger. Using both the scale in the photograph (plate A) and the relation between length and zygomatic width (1,34-1,35), I got to a greatest total skull length of 382-383 mm. The paper (I think) says the greatest total length is 380 mm., meaning the error was 2-3 mm. In the Koln zoo tiger, the estimate, using the same method, is 431-432 mm. If we deduct 4-5 mm. (the skull of the Koln zoo is considerably longer), the result is 426-428 mm. My guess is it could be a bit less, because the slope between occiput and rostrum in the skull of the Koln zoo tiger is more pronounced. Zygomatic width and rostrum width of the Hamamatsu zoo tiger The Hamamatsu zoo tiger was very old (18) when he perished. The remarkable width of the skull most probably is a result of both age and captivity. The effect of captivity also shows in the canines (not well developed) and the width of the rostrum. The Koln zoo and the Hamamatsu zoo tiger compared The Koln zoo tiger. Scale (125 mm.) at the bottom left. Estimated zygomatic width 284 mm. Estimated greatest total length 431 mm.:  *This image is copyright of its original author The Hamamatsu zoo tiger. Scale (100 mm.) at the bottom right. Zygomatic width 284 mm. Greatest total length 380 mm.:  *This image is copyright of its original author
(04-28-2018, 05:42 PM)peter Wrote: BETTY Yes, there is no problem with my translation. (04-28-2018, 05:42 PM)peter Wrote: BETTY There are two descriptions of skull measurements here, and we can compare them. A http://www.pref.ishikawa.lg.jp/hakusan/publish/report/documents/report13-6.pdf  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author 基底全長=CBL=Condylobasal Length B https://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/11877/1/9(4)_p265-276.pdf  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author 基底全長=CBL=Condylobasal Length C  *This image is copyright of its original author
BETTY
Thanks again. Assuming that the translation is correct, the condylobasal length of the Hamamatsu zoo skull is 380 mm. As the difference between the condylobasal length and the greatest total length in skulls of adult male tigers of large subspecies ranges between 40-55 mm., the greatest total length of the Hamamatsu zoo skull has to be at least 420 mm. This means that the skull compares to the Koln zoo tiger for length. The question is if this conclusion is correct. The photographs say no. Assuming that the zygomatic width of the Koln zoo tiger really is about 284 mm., the greatest total length has to be close to 430 mm., if not more. The reason is that the relation between greatest length and width is 1,52. In the Hamamatsu zoo tiger skull, assumptions are not needed. The reason is we know that the zygomatic width of the skull is 284 mm. The relation between greatest total length and greatest width, however, isn't 1,52 (as in the Koln zoo tiger), but 1,34-1,35. This means that the greatest total length has to be 380-383 mm. Agreed? I could have missed a few things. In order to find out if I did, you have to print both photographs. Measure the width and the greatest length of both skulls and tell me what I missed. Here's the photograph of the Koln zoo tiger:  *This image is copyright of its original author And here's the photograph of the Hamamatsu zoo tiger:  *This image is copyright of its original author It will take a bit of time, but the outcome is of interest. Thanks in advance.
PANTHERA TIGRIS ALTAICA - 5 - THE SITUATION IN CHINA (a), CONFLICTS BETWEEN HUMANS AND TIGERS (b), AND TIGER BORIS ©
5a - China The Russian Far East had about 550 tigers in March 2015. China has about 25-30 Amur tigers today. The Chinese want them to stay and repopulate suited parts of northeastern China. For this reason, research and conservation have priority. The Chinese also cooperate with the Russians. If all goes well, a large new national park will be created in a few years. This site has good information about Amur tigers and Amur leopards in northeastern China: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267307640_Tracking_the_Amur_tiger_of_China-Russia_borderlands In this newspaper article, you'll find a bit more about the way Amur tigers and Amur leopards are monitored in northeastern China. It also has information about the national park that will be created in a few years: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/08/c_136960008.htm 5b - Conflicts between tigers and humans Compared to India, Nepal and Bangla Desh, conflicts between tigers and humans in the Russian Far East and China are few and far between. In this recent report, you'll find good information about the situation in 2017: https://conservewildcats.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/02/Final-report_edited-for-web.pdf On this older site (Jeffrey Hays, last edited in 2016), you'll find more about the situation in the period 1970-2015 (roughly): http://factsanddetails.com/russia/Nature_Science_Animals/sub9_8e/entry-5082.html The Russian site is by far the best and most informative about the situation today: http://programmes.putin.kremlin.ru/en/tiger/news# 5c - Tiger Boris Boris, also known als 'Putins tiger', made headlines when he returned to the wild a few years ago. He did very well in the department of wild boars and bears. I found these photographs a few weeks ago. Boris, now a young adult, is still going strong: http://programmes.putin.kremlin.ru/en/tiger/multimedia/photos/59837
A FEW TIGER SKULLS
a - The Munster zoo male Amur tiger In september 2013, a 56-year old keeper was killed by a male Amur tiger in the Munster zoo (western part of Germany). As other keepers were able to lure the tiger away from the poor man, he wasn't shot. The tiger died of old age about 3 years later. Here's the tiger when he was about 10 years of age:  *This image is copyright of its original author And here's the taxidermist with his skull in 2017:  *This image is copyright of its original author The skull seems to be of average size, but the undamaged upper canines, although not well developed, are very long. Skulls of Amur tigers, and those of males in particular, often are big gun platforms. b - Tiger and jaguar skull Found this photograph on a blog. The writer had bought the skulls from a taxidermist in Germany. I didn't find any details, but it's very likely that the owners were born and bred in captivity:  *This image is copyright of its original author I compared jaguar skulls to those of tigers and lions. In my opinion, they're much closer to lion skulls all the way. The largest are similar in length to the skull of an average male Sumatran tiger, but they often lack in elevation, rostrum width, zygomatic width, upper canine length (and diameter), robustness and weight. Male Pantanal jaguars are not as heavy as male Sumatran tigers (averages), but there's not much difference between the largest individuals in both species. c - Paris natural history museum Although the labels lack information, my guess is the skulls belonged to wild tigers. If so, chances are they were shot in French Indochina before 1954. All three skulls have a very vaulted profile and a short, rounded face:  *This image is copyright of its original author A century ago, Panthera tigris corbetti was more or less common in most of southeast Asia. Male tigers in Tonkin in the extreme north and Johore in the southern part of Malaysia seldom exceeded 8.8 (264,16 cm.) in total length (measured 'between pegs'), but males shot in the northwestern part of Burma, the western part of Thailand and the northern part of Malaysia (Perak) often compared to an average male Indian tiger. Not as heavy perhaps, but about similar in total length (8.10-9.4 'between pegs'). The longest shot in Perak taped 9.6 (289,56 cm.) and 9.8 (294,64 cm.) measured 'between pegs'. Tigers in Annam (an elevated and well-stocked region in the northern part of the former South Vietnam) were known for their size. Americans often visited that region to hunt tigers in the period 1920-1940. The largest tiger shot by W. Baze in Vietnam was 260 kg. (575 pounds) and 338 cm. (just over 11.1) in total length measured 'over curves'. Although he had a very long tail (118 cm.), he still measured 220 cm. in head and body. This was in the days that Asia still had many thousands of tigers. Today, the situation isn't good. Laos and Cambodja still have a few tigers, but they were poached to extinction in Vietnam. In Malaysia and Thailand, tigers are protected, but Burma is a very different story. These tigers were poached in Thailand not so long ago. Depressing photographs like this one are all too often seen:  *This image is copyright of its original author According V. Mazak (1983), Panthera tigris corbetti was about average in size. Males ranged between 8.4-9.0 (254,00-274,32 cm.) in total length measured 'between pegs', at times up to 9.4 (284,48 cm.). Based on what I have, I'd say he was a bit conservative. Panthera tigris corbetti ranged over a very large area. The result was individual variation. Tigers shot in Johore were smaller than average. But the Sultan of Johore shot different males well exceeding 9.0 (274,32 cm.) in total length measured 'between pegs'. One of them had a skull over 360 mm. in greatest total length. It still tops the official list. But what do we know?
In June 2011, a 10-year-old male Siberian tiger rescued by the Wildlife Rescue Center of Hunan Province died because of its malignant lymphoma of the digestive tract. Its body was used to make specimens and it was measured before making specimens.
The measurement results are as follows: Tba.1 Head circumference 95cm, head length 47cm, head width 32cm, mouth length 14cm, canine teeth length 4cm. Tba.2 head and body length 208cm, tail length 100cm, rear foot length 27cm, ear length 10cm, forelimb height 46cm, chest width 55.6cm, eye length 3cm, eye distance 11.5cm, eye and ear distance 17cm, Split mouth length 12cm, chest circumference 150cm, waist circumference 145cm, shoulder height 117cm, hips height 112cm, weight 146kg. According to my understanding， when a Chinese zoo or a rescue center measures the shoulder height of an animal, it is measured from the scapula to the pad，I have never seen data from the scapula to the tip of the claw.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
In June 2011, a 10-year-old male Siberian tiger rescued by the Wildlife Rescue Center of Hunan Province died because of its malignant lymphoma of the digestive tract. Its body was used to make specimens and it was measured before making specimens.
The measurement results are as follows: Tba.1 Head circumference 95cm, head length 47cm, head width 32cm, mouth length 14cm, canine teeth length 4cm. Tba.2 head and body length 208cm, tail length 100cm, rear foot length 27cm, ear length 10cm, forelimb height 46cm, chest width 55.6cm, eye length 3cm, eye distance 11.5cm, eye and ear distance 17cm, Split mouth length 12cm, chest circumference 150cm, waist circumference 145cm, shoulder height 117cm, hips height 112cm, weight 146kg. According to my understanding， when a Chinese zoo or a rescue center measures the shoulder height of an animal, it is measured from the scapula to the pad，I have never seen data from the scapula to the tip of the claw. *This image is copyright of its original author *This image is copyright of its original author The Siberian tiger was rescued by the police during the smuggling process and was randomly sent to the Changsha Wildlife Rescue Center in Hunan. However, due to being imprisoned for too long, many diseases and injuries occurred，rescue invalid death.  *This image is copyright of its original author http://hn.rednet.cn/c/2012/07/09/2671570.htm (04-29-2018, 02:06 AM)peter Wrote: BETTY In fact, I previously measured the skull and concluded that the skull is 380mm long and 284mm wide. I confirm that there is no problem with my translation. I think it was the author who made a mistake in the use of the term. According to the measurement of the lower jaw (240mm), the skull length is 380mm, for the calculation of the upper canine teeth, the length is 9.4 cm.  *This image is copyright of its original author Interestingly, according to the calculation of the Scale ruler, the skull is 394mm long and 292mm wide.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Korean Tiger (Amur Tiger)
Among the tigers caught were a large tiger with a weight of (318 kg) to (338.5 kg).  *This image is copyright of its original author http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201508120951341
Ostrava Zoo
The skull of the female Siberian tiger.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author http://www.lpdental.cz/p222/tygr-ussurijsky-panthera-tigris-altaica-studium-mereni-udaju-petr-moj-podekovani-zoo-ostrava (04-29-2018, 10:05 AM)Betty Wrote:(04-29-2018, 02:06 AM)peter Wrote: BETTY Excellent work, Betty. Thanks for the effort. I propose to conclude the exercise. Here's what we found so far: 01 - The translation you made is ok. 02 - The photographs in the article are good. 03 - Plate A has a 10 cm. scale. 04 - Using the scale in Plate A, the measurement for condylobasal length seems incorrect. The question is how to find the real condylobasal length (CBL) and greatest skull length (GSL). We have 2 options: 05 - We assume the measurements for zygomatic width and lower jaw length are correct and use these to find the GSL and the CBL. 06 - We use the scale in Plate A to find the GSL and the CBL. Here's the results of 05 and 06: 07 - The method described in -06- didn't yield uniform results. 08 - The method described in -05- did. Both of us got the same result for greatest skull length (380 mm.). 09 - Our result for GSL is equal to the measurement for CBL in the article. 10 - Based on -09-, the conclusion is that the authors most probably exchanged CBL for GSL. That leaves the condylobasal length. The only way to find the CBL is to use plate B and, as you did, add a scale. 11 - Plate B and the added scale say the condylobasal length isn't 335 mm., but 327-329 mm. I propose 328 mm. for now. If we deduct 328 (CBL) from 380 (GSL), the result is 52 mm. A significant difference, but the tiger was very old when he perished. As the sagittal crest in tigers keeps growing, a difference of 50 mm. and over between GSL and CBL can be expected in skulls of old male tigers of large subspecies. 12 - Skull measurements of the 18-year old male Amur tiger of the Hamamatsu City Zoo (classified results): 12a - Greatest skull length (GSL): 380 mm. 12b - Condylobasal length (CBL): 328 mm. 12c - Zygomatic width (ZYG): 284 mm. 12d - Rostrum width (ROS): 105 mm. 12e - Upper canine length from tip to insertion (UCL): 94 mm. 13 - Source: 13a - Article: 'On the unusual abrasion groove of the lowe canine of an Amur tiger' 13b - Authors: Hasegawa Y., Kimura, T. and the Hamamatsu City Zoo 13c - Published in: Bulletin of the Gunma Natu. Hist. (20), pp. 73-78, 2016 14 - Check: 14a - Do you agree with the summary above? 14b - If you see errors, please say so. (04-30-2018, 07:56 AM)peter Wrote:I have two questions. The image may have scan accuracy problems. The angle of the skull may not be standard. I think that the measurement results of those data are correct, but they are wrongly described.(04-29-2018, 10:05 AM)Betty Wrote:(04-29-2018, 02:06 AM)peter Wrote: BETTY Or, the way of measurement is not the same, such as this...  *This image is copyright of its original author
Ministry of Agriculture of Kazahstan officialy announces project to reintroduce tigers in 2025 in the delta of Ili river, former range of extinct Caspian tiger. The plan is firstly to introduce 5 Amur tigers - 2 males and 3 females, but before that has to be revived the prey base and the wild ecosystem in the aria:
Meanwhile local wild boars are roaming among tall cane grasses waiting somebody to eat them...: This landscape is quite different of any tiger habitat currently existing in the world. This is a swampy aria surrounded by vast deserts, there are few trees and everything is covered by tall cane grasses several meters tall, very dense. Probably the best way to observe tigers in the future (if the project turn to be succesfull) is to observe them from air, using flying balloons as in Africa....very exiting. But we have to wait another 7 years. Currently in the aria of Ili river as a first step was created a sanctuary covering 4000 sq km: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ili_River |
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