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

[Apex Titan]

(02-13-2025, 05:26 AM)peter Wrote: USSURI BROWN BEAR HUNTED BY A TIGER NEAR THE VILLAGE OF YAGODNY

a - Video

The video ('Remains of Ussuri brown bear killed and eaten by Amur tiger. 2024.'), although short (01:35), is of interest. It was uploaded to YouTube by 'BiL' on February 11, 2025, but those who made the video apparently posted it on December 16, 2024.  

b - Liner Notes

" ... Tiger vs bear. 

Not far from the village of Yagodny, the gas pipeline security group saw tiger tracks almost every day back in November (2024). Fortunately, the striped one only hunts animals. Today, for example, it had a bear for dinner. The men found traces of the feast today on their rounds ... "   

c - Link to the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kucEkzOWo3o&t=3s

d - Location

There are quite a few villages called Yagodny ('masculin')) in the Russian Federation. We're looking for a village with that name situated close to a gas pipeline in a region that has forest, Amur tigers, Ussuri brown bears and snow in late fall. Chances are the Yagodny in the liner notes is a small village in Komsomolsk District in Khabarovsk Krai. Komsomolsk is not that far from the gas pipeline between Sachalin and Vladivostok. 

Here's part of an article about the gas pipeline I found (Google). Watch the map on the top (left):

*This image is copyright of its original author

Here's a bit more about the Komsomolsky Municipal District. Watch the map and the map above:

*This image is copyright of its original author

The Komsomolsky Municipal District isn't that far from the Anyuysky National Park. Here's the first two pages about the Anyuysky National Park from Google: 

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

If we combine the information (referring to the scans above), the conclusion is the village Yagodny (referring to the liner notes of the video) is part of the Komsomolsky Municipal District located in the Khabarovky Krai. That district is quite close to the Anyuysky National Park.

Could a tiger from that park have been involved in the incident described in the video? Distancewise, the answer is affirmative. 

This from a man who said tigers in the Anyuysky National Park, apart from the occasional young Himalayan black bear, were not involved in bears in the period 2015-2022? Well, ehh, yes. I got to that conclusion after reading all reports of Aleksej Gotvansky published in the magazin I referred to in my previous post.

So what's different between tigers living the Anyuysky National Park and tigers living outside of that park? I don't know. I do know Gotvansky wrote poachers entered the Anyuysky National Park more than once in the period 2015-2022. He found clear evidence of their presence. Not a few cameras were stolen. At least one male tiger was shot. In one winter only, 4 tigers perished at the hand of man. One was found floating in a river and 3 others were killed on roads. But tigers in the Anyuysky National Park, for some reason, never retaliated. In many other districts of the Khabarovsky Krai, conflicts between tiger and man are quite numerous, especially in the last decade. I'm referring to hundreds of incidents. Residents in the Khabarovsky Krai (also referring to the somewhat casual remark in the liner notes of the video) are quite aware of these incidents, meaning they have become quite wary. 

What I'm saying is the Anyuysky National Park seems to be a bit of an exception in that conflicts between wild animals and villagers are few. Outside of the national park, the situation is very different. So much so, articles about 'conflict tigers' have been published more than once. I also saw a few documentaries in which villagers complained about tigers. I don't know if the problems are a result of the growing number of tigers, as many seem to think, but I do know the disease that affected the population of wild boars resulted in the migration of adult male tigers from the Anyuysky National Park. Not a few of those who watched the documentaries I referred to, however, thought logging, new roads and poaching were the main causes of the problems.  

e - The video (content)

The video has a transcript. This means you can more or less follow the discussion between the men. I said 'more or less', because the discussion isn't conclusive. The men found prints of in the snow. When they followed them, they found a bit of fur, blood covered snow, a bed used by the tiger, another one where the bear had been consumed and, in the end, a paw of an Ussuri bear. All in all, the video is inconclusive. But not quite. 

The liner notes say the members of the security team had seen tiger prints almost every day in the district they patrolled in November 2024. The men were wary, which most probably was a result of the recent conflicts between tiger and man in the Russian Far East. The tiger that left his (or her) prints in the snow, however, only hunted wild animals. On that particular day, a bear had been killed. The way paragraph is constructed suggests they might have found other animals killed by that particular tiger, but that's an assumption only.

Although a trail can be seen in the snow, the prints are unclear. This means they had been made in light snow. After the tiger left, it had snowed again. It didn't amount to much. The original prints hadn't been completely covered, but the new snow had blurred the details. Enough to create questions regarding the gender, size and age of the tiger and the bear. When they followed the trail, the men found a bit of blood here and there and a bit more in one particular spot. This, so it seems, is the spot where the bear had been killed. The bear had been dragged to a small tree a bit further on and the tiger had started eating. The bed, almost free of snow, suggests the tiger has rested every now and then. The tiger had been hungry. Apart from the paw, the bear had been completely eaten.  

Although the spot where the bear had been killed was covered with young trees and saplings, there were no clear signs of a struggle. This, most probably, means the bear had been surprised and quickly killed. The absence of a lot of blood suggests the bear had been killed with a bite to the back of the skull. This method is used when the bear is smaller than the tiger. The paw they found was larger than the hand of the man that held it, but not by much. The claws were shorter than his fingers and had been worn down to a degree. 

The bear had been killed in November, when it had already started snowing. The question is why the bear wasn't hibernating. One reason could have been a lack of snow, enabling it to continue foraging. Another reason is a lack of fat. I don't know if there had been a crop failure, but I do know the population of wild boars and red deer wasn't quite up to par as the result of the disease I referred to in my previous post. In some districts, the population had largely recovered, but in others tigers were still struggling. Ussuri brown bears hunt wild boars as well, but in this department they not as able as tigers. 

As far as I know, nothing was known about the hunter. There's, however, no question it was a tiger. The members of the security team had found tiger prints for some time before they found the paw of the bear.

f - Conclusion

Somewhere in November 2024, a tiger surprised an Ussuri brown bear very close to a (logging) road (also) used by members of a security team of Gazprom. Although the video doesn't show clear prints of both the tiger and the bear, the members of the security team saw prints of a tiger almost every day. Tigers are territorial predators. This means it's very likely the tiger leaving the prints had been involved in the incident.

A few deep prints and a quite large patch of stained blood suggest the tiger had attacked the bear very close to the road. Although the bear, judging from the amount of blood in the snow, had been quite badly injured, it managed to shake the tiger off. Another large bloody spot was found 10-15 yards further on. The absence of a drag mark between both spots suggests the bear had covered the distance on it's own. The tiger engaged the bear a few seconds later. During the second attack, the bear was killed. The absence of broken trees and saplings suggests the struggle had been brief. After the bear had been killed, the tiger dragged it to a small tree a few yards further on and most probably consumed the bear at that spot. 

Judging from the absence of remains (the members of the security team only found a bit of fur and one of the front paws), the tiger had been hungry. The bed, almost free of snow, was very close to the spot where the bear had been consumed. The lack of snow of the bed suggests the tiger had stayed with the bear for a considerable period of time, possibly 2-3 days. In that period, snow had fallen. Judging from the prints the men found, the amount of snow had been very limited. 

The paw of the bear was larger than the hand of the man that held it, but not by much. The claws were shorter than his fingers and a bit worn. Although the paw wasn't small, the bear had been killed without much of a fight. It did, however, manage to shake off the tiger after the first attack. The bear was strong enough to do so, suggesting it was quite large, possibly adult. The tiger, however, was able to kill the bear during the second attack, suggesting it was a larger animal. And, judging from the very limited amount of time needed to kill the bear, quite experienced. My guess is the tiger was an adult male. Some of those commenting on the video thought the bear was an adult male, but the size of the paw suggests this is unlikely. The paw, however, wasn't small, suggesting the owner could have been a young adult male or an adult female. Judging from the size of the paw and the claws, my guess is it was an adult female. She wasn't in good shape, because she wasn't hibernating in November. Non-hibernating brown bears, also known as 'Schatuns', lack the fat needed to hibernate. Weightwise, they're well under par. Not seldom, they're desperate and dangerous. In Baikov's day, hunters cooperated to eliminate them.  

And then there's 'satellite bears'. Only few of them hibernate, because they don't need to on account of their size (weight) and, perhaps, experience. Some follow and rob good hunters, like tigresses with cubs, whereas others have other ways to overcome the problems typical for winter. I don't know if an adult female Ussuri brown bear qualifies for that title, but I do know of a case of an adult female 'Schatun' that killed, and consumed, a hibernating adult male Ussuri brown bear. Desperate animals are capable of anything. 

The Ussuri brown bear killed near Nagodny, however, wasn't able to put up much of a fight. Could have been a result of a difference in size and age. If the tiger was from Anyuysky National Park, as I suspect, chances are it was a quite large animal. The next post will have some scans of the reports of Aleksej Gotvansky. He saw prints left by males with a heel width ranging between 14,0-16,0 cm. Only one of these prints was measured in light, but trampled, snow. All others were measured in summer.

Nice find, Peter.

Accounts like this, and the case of Odyr killing the large male brown bear, just prove that there are many cases that happen of Amur tigers hunting and killing Ussuri brown bears that biologists never discover, or are never reported in scientific publications. Of course, these cases are common, as bears are regularly hunted and eaten by tigers.

Judging by the size of the killed bear's paw, and the fact that it was able to fend off the tiger's initial attack, I'm certain that it was an adult brown bear killed. Note, the paw is half-eaten and folded, but still larger than the man's hand. If the paw was fully intact and opened, it would have been large. To me, this indicates that it was an adult brown bear killed and eaten by the tiger. Could have been a mature adult female, or a medium-sized adult male brown bear.

Peter, any bear, whether male or female, or brown or black, not hibernating in November, doesn't necessarily mean that the bear was not in good shape. Remember the report I posted from Yuri Kya? He stated, that when there's a good amount of food in the forest for bears, the bears will go into hibernation later, and will roam the forest up to mid December. Batalov also reported the same fact. Its very likely, that the adult brown bear hunted and killed by the tiger near Yagodny, was in good shape, well-fed, and about to go into hibernation soon.

After all, various experienced biologists have said, and scientific studies also confirm, that Amur tigers strongly prefer to hunt and eat well-fed bears in summer and autumn. A healthy, well-fed adult brown bear in November, preparing for hibernation, would make a delicious, calorie-rich, and fatty dinner for a tiger.

This was also the case with Odyr. Odyr hunted and killed a large, well-fed adult male brown bear that was about to go into hibernation in late November. That year (2022), Yuri Kya said there was a good harvest of food for bears in the Khekhtsir reserve, all bears were well-fed and had plenty to eat, and the bears were roaming the forest up til mid December.

And lastly, a tiger can quickly kill a large bear. Biologist Yuri Dunishenko stated that Amur tigers even kill large bears with a single bite to the base of the skull. The male tiger Dima, with only 3 canines, was able to instantly kill a huge, similar-sized brown bear sow with a single bite to the nape of the neck. So there's no doubt that Amur tigers are able to quickly overwhelm and kill large brown bears with a single bite.

However, the brown bear hunted and killed near Yagodny, was able to fight off the tiger's initial attack, which suggests that it was an adult brown bear killed. Reply