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

[Apex Titan]

(08-01-2024, 10:28 PM)TheHyenid76 Wrote: @peter @Apex Titan & other tiger enthusiasts. This a comparison between a Bengal tiger and an Amur tiger. Source. Is it accurate?

*This image is copyright of its original author

Regarding body size, the image is correct. Amur and Bengal tigers are the same size, however, Amur tigers have slightly more massive skulls and paws. Regarding the weight range, the image/source is wrong. The average weight of mainland Bengal tigers (excluding the Sunderbans population) is 210 - 220 kg, for adult males.

The weight range of both Amur and Bengal tigers is up to at least 300 kg, or 320 kg, based on reliable historical weight data and records, as well as the statements of biologists and researchers.

This supposed 175 kg average of modern Amur tigers is nothing but a bogus notion based on very limited and outdated data/samples from the 'Siberian Tiger Project' biologists, who captured and weighed Amur tigers only in the Primorye region. Some of the males they captured and weighed were also unhealthy, emaciated and young adult specimens. The weight sample of modern Amur tigers, especially from fully-grown mature male tigers, is very limited and inconclusive.

Russian big cat specialist & field biologist, Viktor Lukarevsky said that there are individual (Amur) tigers that are very different in size, and their weight can vary by more than 50 kg.

He states: "Unfortunately, the two largest males which were caught for the purpose of tagging, for objective reasons, we could not weigh. In one case, it was very large, but not fat young male. Normally, young males (3-4 years old) weigh 160-180 kg, but adults older than 5-6 years old weigh an average of 220 - 240 kg. I think that 280 kg is not the limit for an adult large male."

Lukarevsky is a seasoned biologist, who has worked with STP biologists like Dale Miquelle, Linda Kerley, etc. He also featured in a documentary, working with Miquelle (Operation Snow Tiger, 2013). He's well aware of their weight data, and yet, says the average weight of an adult mature male Amur tiger is 220 - 240 kg, with large males exceeding 280 kg in weight.

Now, in the Khabarovsk Krai, there are several giant male tigers that have been seen and tracked in recent years by biologist Gotvansky, another seasoned specialist. He measured the tracks of huge male tigers with heel widths of 13.5 cm! One of these males was nicknamed "The Beast", an enormous tiger who rivaled the size of a huge male brown bear. Two other giant male tigers lived in the same National Park (Anyuisky), one from the Nilo channel, the other from the Tormasu River. Based on their heel widths, they certainly would have weighed well over 200 kg, my guess is, between 250 - 300 kg. The Siberian Tiger Project biologists / researchers never found or measured any heel widths of this size. STP biologists never studied tigers from the Khabarovsk region, where huge male tigers are more often seen and tracked than in the Primorye region.

In recent years, the largest male tigers from Russia, are said to be from the Khabarovsk region, and based on the reports, paw prints measured, biologist testimonies, and camera trap images, this definitely seems to be the case. And none of the giant males were captured or weighed, but they successfully spread their giant genes to multiple litters of tiger cubs. This should produce future generations of enormous male tigers in the Anyuisky National Park.

Recently, a healthy, but average looking male tiger was captured, weighed and released in the Khabarovsk territory, who weighed 200 - 205 kg. Confirmed by the Amur Tiger Center. I posted the report in the tiger extinction thread. 

Northeast China, is a land where giant male Amur tigers are often seen. There are numerous videos showing huge, extremely robust, and very impressive males. Only few were recently captured and weighed. One large male weighed 270 kg, confirmed first-hand by one of China's leading tiger experts / field biologist Feng Limin, another male was said to weigh 250 kg. And in 2021, a juvenile male tiger, who was captured for attacking villagers and smashing a car, weighed 225 kg! Almost 500 lbs at such a young age.

Except for the few very large males (and juvenile) that were captured and weighed in Northeast China, the Amur tigers in this region haven't been captured or weighed also.

So all in all, the alleged 175 kg "average" weight of modern Amur tigers is nothing but complete, unproven nonsense based on very limited and outdated weight samples from certain researchers in only one region. Times have changed, the population of Amur tigers has significantly increased since the Siberian Tiger Project started and finished, and huge male Amur tigers are more often being seen and tracked in other regions (and country) in recent years, which clearly indicates that giant males still exist, and the true size / weight of modern Amur tigers is larger than what some people assume. Reply