There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
04-22-2014, 04:35 AM( This post was last modified: 04-22-2014, 04:47 AM by Wanderfalke )
Excellent post Guate. Thanks a lot for the time you take to post such extensive information. Though my reason simply tells me, that wild amur tigers never ever were and never ever will be as big as Jaipur. He was most likely neutered, which is typical for such extremely huge captive cats. Some abnormaly huge specimens could have existed as we have seen on the photo from the sungari river tiger. About 650-700pounds. His head and neck alone probably weighed as much as the hunter himself, who posed next to the tiger. The Duisburg Zoo tiger also seemed like a very, very big specimen. Probably twice the size or even more like the female next to him. take the average size of a wild female amur tiger (121kg), add a bit weight for the fact of captivity (10kg) and you get your estimation for the male, which should be around 570-660 pounds (double size of female or a bit more). But to get as big as this in the wild needs some serious genes and good prey density, I guess. A healthy amur gene pool and good prey density could result in specimens up to 700 pounds. But definitely few and far between. Some old photos from circuses also show some exceptional big male specimens (see attachement, they´re sitting and are almost as big as the standing man)! Specimens in captivity can only get even bigger when they are neutered, as far as I´m concerned. Less enviromental stress and a regular and good food supply in captivity simply doesn´t have such a big impact, even when you´re a tiger equipped with extraordinary genes. Again, thx for the post !!!