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

[peter]

APEX

a - About the video I posted 

Before responding to your post, I decided for some background information on the video in my last post. It's a bit of a detour, but the story, I think, is interesting. 

You may remember my post about the way of interacting of the administrator of 'Domain of the bears' and some members. I said I would contact a few people who know a few things about forums, problems and solutions. Most of those I contacted informed me about (the reach and effect of) legal measures. Two actually read quite a few posts. They told me they got interested along the way and invested quite a bit of time. Although they know next to nothing about (interactions between) tigers and bears in the Russian Far East, they do know a few things about information, interaction and problems that often erupt during exchanges. 

Both, to be complete, do not know each other. It was quite remarkable they got to similar conclusions about the (causes of the) problems I referred to. Apart from that, they quickly noticed the main differences between posters interested in good information and others. They concluded you and 'fantasticstruggles788' in particular are the main contributors in the department of information. The difference between you and 788, according to them, is you largely focus on recent information, whereas 788 posts about books written by Russian hunter-biologists, zoologists and naturalists published, say, 50-100 years ago. Another difference is 788 never adds comments and conclusions, whereas you do.  

Apart from reading, those I contacted saw quite a number of videos. Both know a few things about videos and manipulation. One of them sent me a few links to videos that, in his opinion, had been manipulated. His advice was to add the link of the most recent video he found in a new post and to write a comment. He asked me to write a post today. This afternoon, we met. He explained why he asked me to write a post (with the link to the video) immediately and added he was prepared to go for a bet regarding your response.  

We talked about the forum for some time. He was surprised at the number of views and added Wildfact has commercial value. When discussing a number of future scenarios, he suddenly smiled. He said he thought you would be the only one to respond and go against me within 24 hours after I posted and he was right. What I'm saying is your posts speak for themselves. So much so, a visitor was able to predict your response.    

Did I immediately notice the video was fake? Negative. I did, however, see a vital part (referring to the moment the tiger and the bear met) was missing. Apart from that, I noticed the bear didn't seem to respond to the proximity of the tiger. Strange, as no Himalayan black bear in his right state of mind, no matter it's age and size, would enable an adult male Amur tiger to get within striking distance. Every Himalayan black bear knows he's on the menu of just about every Amur tiger. It's also very unlikely a wild male Amur tiger would waste a golden opportunity and decide for private matters, completely ignoring the bear. Meaning 'Pallas', who posted the video on YouTube, is involved in manipulation without a shadow of doubt. 

His conclusion (referring to the man I contacted) is you're one of the few interested in good information. It's also clear you're prepared to oppose everyone involved in selling crap, meaning you're independent. This means those interested in bears are wrong in all respects and that could have been the intention. A big compliment, I think.  

b - About your last posts

I could take my time to discuss the information you posted, but it speaks for itself in all respects. You answered most questions. Excellent work. Does this mean you covered all of it? The answer is not quite. Explanation. 

There are two sources about tigers and bears in the Russian Far East. The first consists entirely of books written by Russian hunter-biologists, zoologists and naturalists. These books were difficult to find and to read (referring to the language). This is the reason the book of V. Mazak ('Der Tiger', 1983) was so popular for a long time. In the early eighties of the last century, I visited East-Berlin. I found and bought 'Säugetiere der Sowjet-Union' (referring to the German translation published in 1980). In 1992, the Siberian Tiger Project started. I consider all books, articles and peer-reviewed documents published in the period 1992-2024 as the second source of information. 

It didn't take me long to conclude there are significant differences between books published half a century ago and those published in the last decades. In order to find out why, I tried to find English translations of books written by Russian biologists in the period 1900-1992. Dr. P. van bree assisted, but it wasn't easy. Just before the turn of the century, I joined AVA. Some of the posters interested in bears posted paragraphs and tables from the books I was after, but they used the information to underline a point made meaning it was difficult to get to a conclusion. In the end, I lost my interest. The never ending animosity and the hack contributed to the decision to quit, but the main reason was a lack of good information and the manipulative attitude of posters interested in bears.

c - About a new thread created by 'fantasticstruggle788' (a new member of 'Domain of the bears')  

A few weeks ago, in the heart of bear country ('Domain of the bears'), I found (parts of the) books I was after. The new member of Brobears forum, 'fantasticstruggle788', posted English translations of paragraphs and chapters of books written by Russian biologists published before 1992 (including Kostoglod). The new member of 'Domain of the bears' is able in Russian. As he selected paragraphs and chapters in which relations between Amur tigers and bears are described in detail, those interested now have the opportunity to read them. 

I read some of his contributions and got to the same conclusion as a few decades ago. I mean those who published, say, half a century ago seem to contradict those who published in the last decades. Could it be reality is a mixed bag, did tigers and bears interact in a different way half a century ago or are we missing something? 

My advice is to visit the thread he started ('The Ussuri brown bear 1950-2000'). When you meet '788', tell him his contributions are much appreciated. Let us know what you think. Reply