Amur Tigers

[Apex Titan]

@GreenGrolar 

Before I post my response to your previous post and the follow-up information on tigers, bears and native views, let me just address this wild speculation made by a certain bear poster (you know).

Why does the administrator of the Bear forum keep making empty claims, based on zero evidence, that "vast majority" of bear flesh consumed by tigers is due to tigers "scavenging" on already dead bears??  Where did he hear this from?  What study? Research? Thats nothing but pure guesswork based on nothing.

If vast majority of bear flesh consumed by tigers was due to scavenging, then that means brown bears and black bears are randomly dropping dead at a alarming rate in the summer and autumn in numerous reserves! Which makes no sense, whatsoever.

One of the ways and methods biologists, researchers and zoologists find out what a predator is regularly HUNTING is by examining scats. This is common knowledge. Although all predators will scavenge on dead animals, the vast majority of meat consumed by any pure predator is due to predation. This is a fact.

If majority of the bear flesh eaten by tigers was due to feeding on carrion, then biologists would definitely mention this in their scientific reports, studies and articles. But they don't, biologists specifically mention that the bear remains found in tiger scats is due to tigers hunting and killing bears. 

Here's information from biologists and experts that clearly refutes his empty claims....


Tiger predation is the main natural cause of brown bear mortality:

Monitoring, Survey, Utilization And Threats To The Populations Of Asiatic Black Bear And Brown Bear In Sikhote-Alin

Pikunov D.G., Seryodkin I.V. 

The annual increase in the population of brown bears is approximately 38%, and natural mortality is 25-30% (Yudin, 1993). The main natural cause of their death is the predation by the tiger."

Access full text (study) here:

https://global.wcs.org/Resources/Publica...00000.aspx

Sergey Kolchin, a leading zoologist, biologist & researcher, reports that bears are usual prey of adult male tigers:

"But this is if the tiger's teeth are in order. And, of course, the paws, with the help of which the tiger makes throws, grabs and holds the caught prey. Red deer and wild boars, not to mention bears (the usual prey of adult male tigers), are able to stand up for themselves with dignity."

http://debri-dv.com/article/5993


From the Siberian Tiger Project:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Look administrator of bear forum, the reason why bear remains are regularly found in tiger scats in autumn, is because in autumn, its easy for tigers to find bears and KILL them:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Young male tiger 'Vladik' preferred to hunt bears in the fall:

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://news.rambler.ru/incidents/388078...rodu-tigr/

https://ria.ru/20171231/1512028610.html


Young Amur tigress "Elena" chased (likely hunting) huge bears which scattered in panic from her:

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://mirnov.ru/rubriki-novostey/yeto-...ossii.html


"Traditional methods based on snow tracking may overestimate large-ungulate kill rates by tigers, hindering tiger conservation efforts in the Russian Far East. A prediction of this hypothesis would be an increase in summer PREDATION ON BEARS and other smaller mammals that are hibernating and less accessible during the winter months."

"Recent scat analysis research in the Russian Far East has shown non-ungulate prey species are present in tiger scat significantly more often during the summer months."

https://www.speciesconservation.org/case...-tiger/412


This is confirmed by this study ( Dale Miquelle, Linda Kerley, Matiukhina, 2015 ). It shows that bears make up a large significant portion of the tigers diet in summer, due to tigers preying on bears.

A comparison of food habits and prey preference of Amur tiger at three sites in the Russian Far East

"Across all sites, tiger diet varied seasonally, with tigers consuming more bear, and less wild boar biomass during the snow-free months."

*This image is copyright of its original author

"In addition, bears constituted a significantly higher proportion of tiger diet in the summer, and while not significant, badgers increased in the diet of tigers during the snow-free period as well..."

"The increased predation on bears and badgers is likely due to their increased availability following emergence from hibernation and the increased vulnerability of their young, although tigers do prey on adult bears. Amur tiger predation on bear is not a new phenomenon, but our results, in addition to identifying seasonality in tiger predation of bears, also suggests that bears constitute a relatively large portion of tiger diet, particularly during the snow-free period. This runs counter to previous assertions that the risk of injury was too high for tigers to regularly predate bears." (Miquelle et al. 2010).

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dal...r-East.pdf

Sometimes biologists find the actual carcass of a bear that was killed and eaten by a tiger. An example:

From Sergey Kolchin - zoologist & researcher

"The main natural enemy of the Himalayan bear in the Ussuri forests is the tiger. The habitats of these species in the south of the Far East coincide, forcing the bear to adapt to the dangerous neighborhood."

"An important adaptation that increases its viability in such conditions is wintering in tree hollows. However, if the entrance to the hollow is too low, near the roots of the tree, the tiger can kill the careless owner of the den."

"Once positively experienced, tigers begin to systematically check low-entry tree dens in search of prey."

Remains of a fully-grown, mature male black bear that was pulled out of his den, killed and eaten by a tiger:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://www.facebook.com/sergey.bears?fref=nf

Biologists specifically mention "predation" and "prey item". NOT SCAVENGING. In fact, they never mention that tigers are scavenging on dead bears.

So please ask the administrator of the bear forum, why does he constantly make stuff up??  Why does he never post any shred of evidence to back up his wild speculations, assumptions and empty claims? 

Its a well known established fact, that Amur tigers actively prey on bears, studies prove it and biologists specifically mention that the significant amount and frequency of bear remains regularly found in tiger scats in summer and autumn is due to tiger predation on bears, and yet the administrator still keeps saying that its because of tigers "feeding on carrion", although this is completely wrong, why?   Reply