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

[Shadow]

(10-18-2018, 08:58 PM)peter Wrote: BROWN BEARS AND HIMALAYAN BLACK BEARS AS HUNTERS 

1 - Introduction

In the Russian Far East, tigers and bears have been neighbours for many years. Although we now know a bit more about the way they interact as a result of a number of articles published in the last two decades, these animals still are an enigma in many ways.  

Quite many posters interested in tigers and bears seem to think that brown bears are large, but clumsy scavengers unable to defend themselves against a determined professional like a tiger. I don't know how they got to that opinion, but it's far from the truth.

On the internet, you can find many videos of brown bears hunting and killing large mammals. In the hunting department, they do very well. Brown bears hunt in spring in particular. During hibernation, they can lose up to 30% of their weight. In spring they need a lot of energy and the best way to get there fast is protein. 

In summer and autumn, bears switch to vegetables. Most of the time, forest products are available. More often than not, there's no need to compete in order to eat. In terms of energy, no big investment is needed. This enables bears to fatten up for hibernation.       

Himalayan black bears, about half the size of brown bears in the Russian Far East, also hunt. We seldom hear about them, because brown bears get a lot more airplay. But the Russian Far East has many Himalayan black bears. 

As this post is about bears, I initially wanted to use one of the bear threads. I decided against it, because it is of interest for those doing tigers and bears in the Russian Far East. The aim of the post is to show those interested that bears are far from clumsy and defenceless.        

2 - Brown bear and wild boar

The video below was posted in 2010 by Grahh, a bear poster involved in nearly all debates about tigers and bears in the Russian Far East in AVA (Yuku, now Tapatalk). The video was taken from a car and shows a brown bear struggling with a wild boar. The bear is seen standing on his hind legs most of the time. This position enabled him to use his weight and front limbs with great effect. Weight, when used in this way, is an effective method to subdue an opponent of similar size.   

Those who saw videos of big cats killing large mammals could be a bit surprised about the method used by the bear in that there's no crippling bite. The method used by the bear, however, is effective as well. As you can see, the exhausted wild boar is not able to use his tusks. Bears often use weight and brute force to kill animals. 

In spring, brown bears hunt. In spite of their size, they're fast and much more agile than many think. In the video, the bear left the scene before the boar was killed because he was disturbed: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBDAOY3Qwnw

3 - Himalayan black bear and wild boar

In 1993, 'Tiger, deer and ginseng', written by V. Jankowski, was published (in Russian). This is the book in which the very large Sungari river tiger is discussed. During the debate about the tiger and the bear he had killed a few days before he was shot, Warsaw, Wolverine and WaveRiders posted translations of the part in which the tiger featured. These enabled me to get to a kind of reconstruction. I'll post it soon.

As to the large male Himalayan black bear and the wild boar he killed. When he was out for tigers troubling a small village, V. Jankowski saw a large wild boar in a riverine forest. At least, that's what he thought. He shot the 'boar'. When he went over to see what had happened, he saw he had shot a well-fed male Himalayan black bear. The bear had killed a large male wild boar. It was the first time he saw a wild boar killed by a Himalayan black bear.

Himalayan male bears average 130-140 kg., but individual variation is pronounced. Large males can reach 180-200 kg., if not more. Males of that size do not fear tigers and apparently are able to hunt as well.

Here's Valery Jankowski with a large Himalayan black bear. I don't know if it is the bear mentioned in his book, but it shows that some males can reach a great size:  

*This image is copyright of its original author

   

4 - Finland

The last days I've been talking about tigers and bears with a new member, Shadow. Like Wolverine, he's very well-read in the department of tigers and bears in the Russian Far East. Shadow is from Finland, where they have brown bears. My guess is that brown bears in Finland more or less compare to those in the Russian Far East. They don't have exceptional individuals occasionally seen in the Russian Far East, but adult males not seldom reach 250-300 kg. 

In spring, brown bears hunt mammals up to the size of an adult bull moose. Shadow saw the results of severe fights. I invited him to tell us a bit more. You might be surprised about the abilities of brown bears.

Youtube has a lot of videos from Finland. In quite many, bears feature. My advice is to have a good look at them. Chances are you will conclude that adult male brown bears are far from clumsy and defenceless. 

In many bear videos you can see wolves. In Finland, brown bears and wolves seem to interact in a different way than in the northwestern part of the US and Canada.

The bear and the wolf in the photograph below (taken by Lasse Rautiainen) seemed to get along. The photograph, to be sure, is not shopped. We're talking about wild animals here. It was posted before, but I decided for a repost:       

*This image is copyright of its original author

That photo by Rautiainen is a really good one. And not only one. He tells himself, that he has witnessed same kind of behavior between many bears and wolves. He say, that there is kind of friendship between bears and wolves time to time. Then again also quarrels about food. A pack of wolves can irritate a bear, snapping backside of it and make it leave the carcass. Then again another, maybe more experienced bear, can just lie down on carcass and wolves are practically unable to do anything, but wait, when bear keeps calm and eats there. Sometimes bears try to chase wolves, but of course in that game wolf is just too "slippery", especially if incident happens on swamp area. 

But what comes to Amur tigers and brown bears. I also have been curious about their relationship in far east. I also think, that situation is kind of balance there. Tigers do kill brown bears, but what comes to adult bears, then we are talking about females. With male bears victims are young ones, not adults. Adult male brown bear and tiger there are obviously not challenging each others in normal situations. What comes to adult male bear and size, there is one thing to consider too and it would be also interesting to see more close details about weight statistics of bears.

I mean, are in statistics about male bears from what ages. Brown bear is able to breed earlier, but it grows size up to 9-10 years old. It would be interesting to see also statistics about bears, who have reached their individual maximum size what comes to overall size and then average weight of those bears.

Same with tigers too. I think, that many statistics are made in different way(?). Reply