Who is the "king" of tigers? - Bengal or Amur

[peter]

(05-20-2020, 09:50 AM)Hello Wrote:

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HELLO

Many thanks again and say thanks to Kennion as well. His confirmation on the 13,75 cm is one point. I need one more to be sure. Unfortunately, I don't do social media. Would you be so kind as to contact Kerley? I've 4 questions:  

1 - Could she provide details on the 13,75 cm print (location, season and the tiger leaving the print)? 

2 - Using the information on heel width and weight of wild Amur tigers I recently posted in the tiger extinction thread, Tigerluver concluded a wild male Amur tiger leaving a print of 13,5 cm ranges between 259-337 kg (most likely outcome 295 kg). The heaviest male actually weighed in the period 1992-2020, however, was 212 kg. What's her opinion on Tigerluver's equation and the (average and maximum) weight of an adult (6 years and over) wild male Amur tiger today? Are wild Amur tigers, as some members think, a bit heavier than, say, 2-3 decades ago? 

3 - In 2018, Olga Krasnykh (founder and co-owner of Bohai Tours) joined Wildfact. She knows researchers working in reserves in the southwestern part of Primorye. They told her tigers hunt brown bear females and, in particular, cubs more often than before. In their opinion, the pressure is significant. So much so, that tigers seem to 'expell' brown bears in some districts. What's Kerley's opinion on tigers and female brown bears with cubs in the Russian Far East? 

4 - In 1983, the third edition of V. Mazak's book 'Der Tiger' (in German) was published. In this edition, Mazak referred to a letter he got from W.J. Jankowski, a son of J.M. Jankowski (who featured in 'The Tiger's Claw'). In this letter (dated 08-05-1970), Jankowski wrote about a large male tiger shot near the Sungari River in the summer of 1943. Close to the tiger, Jankowski found the remains of a " ... very large male brown bear ... " ('Der Tiger', 1983, pp. 189) killed and eaten by the tiger a few days before he was shot. 

This letter resulted in some controversy. One reason is W.J. Jankowski didn't provide any details on the tiger and the bear in his book published in the early nineties of the previous century. Another reason is biologists never found an adult male brown bear killed by a tiger in the period 1992-2020. Most of them think experienced male tigers hunt adult female brown bears and, occasionally, young adult male bears up to their own size (150-200 kg), but avoid adult male brown bears. 

Recent reports published by biologists involved in the Amur Tiger Programme however point in a different direction. I'm not only referring to a report about a rehabilitated young male tiger known as 'Borya' hunting adult brown bears published in December 2016. There are more recent publications (all of them peer-reviewed documents) suggesting tigers hunt 'large' brown bears more often than was assumed in the recent past. What's Kerley's opinion on male tigers and male brown bears in the Russian far East? 

It wouldn't be superfluous to add members of forums are not only interested in peer-reviewed documents. Opinions could be as interesting, especially if those involved in opinions have a lot of experience. Pikunov offered his opinion on tigers and bears in the Russian Far East. Kerley and Goodrich no doubt have an opinion as well.   
 
Kennion's opinion, to be sure, would be appreciated as well. He most probably knows more about (interactions between) captive tigers and bears than forum members. 

I know it's a big ask. See what you can do and thanks in advance. Reply