Modern weights and measurements on wild tigers

[peter]

(11-09-2018, 10:21 AM)Kingtheropod Wrote: GuateGojira regarding food intake. What is your opinion of the Sunquist figures of food intake. The figures showing food consumption of 14-18.6 kg in a 24 hour period does not necessarily mean they consumed all that in one sitting, meaning that cats could have consumed only 7 kg in one feeding session, and consumed another 7 kg later on in the same day after it digested the previous meal. In other words, the 14 kg daily food intake figure could have consisted of several smaller meals meaning the figures for Sunquist being adjusted to 221 kg (minus 14 kg) could be completely void! In addition, what do you think the correct figure for Sunquist study should be, should we use the 221 kg adjusted figure, or the 235 kg?

I got the idea reading from Nat Geo

"It may take days for a tiger to finish eating its kill. Tigers have been known to eat up to 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of meat in one night, but more often they consume about 12 pounds (5 kilograms) during a meal. The cat eats until it's full, and then covers the carcass with leaves and dirt. When it's hungry again, the tiger comes back to feed some more, until the meat is gone."

https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/an...facts.aspx

The same also applies for the example above.

 
1 - POSTERS, STRIFE AND STOMACH CONTENT - TIGERS

Not so long ago, debates about the size of wild big cats were based on books written by forest officers and hunters. The info was collected in a period in which wild big cats were severely hunted. Although they were going downhill rapidly, exceptional individuals were not uncommon in those days. During debates, measurements and weights of exceptional individuals were often targeted. My guess is not only posters were involved.    

Not seldom, I saw 'unreliable', 'baiting', 'selection', 'maharajahs', '11-inch tapes', 'unreliable scales', 'unsound methods', and all the rest of it. I thought I saw a few lion posters every now and then, but I could be wrong.  

2 - THE EFFECTS

When most posters, tired of the countless attemps to discredit nearly all sources considered as reliable, settled for the averages found by Dunbar Brander and the Maharajah of Cooch Behar a century ago, new information on the size of wild tigers in southwestern and northern India and Nepal became available. As it was collected by researchers, it was reliable. 

Not a few posters and researchers were flabberghasted at first. After they had recovered, weights were targeted first. Talking stomach content and unreliable scales. The effect was that researchers, regarding the averages of wild adult male tigers, decided to deduct 30 (Nepal) to 60 (Nagarahole) pounds. Or nothing at all (Russia). And exceptional individuals, like the Sauraha tiger, just to make sure, were more or less dismissed. No good cattle addicts, they were.

3 - CONCLUSIONS

I followed the proceedings for quite some time. I won't say I only saw crap, but it was quite clear that most of those involved were guided by something very close to outright preference. In the end, they more or less got what they wanted. Today, most posters immediately deduct 30-60 pounds when weights of wild male tigers are published. Posters driven by preference are no longer needed to question records of wild tigers, that is. 

A pity it had to come to that, but it more or less fits the climate seen all too often today. In the western hemisphere in particular, a new kind of raw capitalism introduced in the eighties of the previous century resulted in severe strife and quite extreme contrasts. More than before, people join social organisations opposing each other in every possible way. The net result, apart from a loss of quality in general, is distrust. Not between nations, but within them. Social tension and a focus on what is known as 'human interest' are very effective means to divert the attention from things that really matter. All this is without the effects of what became known as 'fake news', of course.

The thing to remember is divertion. In some departments of society, the lessons learned during yet another terrible war have now been buried and replaced by something else. What I see is not that different from what those in the thirties of the previous century must have seen. Nothing fake about that. Anyhow.         

4 - MODERN WEIGHTS AND RECORDS OF WILD TIGERS

This thread has recent information about weights and measurements of wild tigers. How deal with the information posted? 

4a - Weight fluctuations in individuals

Wild big cats are subject to quite violent weight fluctuations over time. Tiger 'Dale', in the Russian Far East, was heavily involved in adult female brown bears when he was first captured. At 202 kg. (446 pounds), he was the heaviest weighed by researchers in that period. Some time later, on a full stomach, he turned the scales at 375 pounds (170 kg.) only. We don't know what happened, but he lost three canines  as well (...). When he was captured a third time, he was fine. On one canine only, he almost got to 200 kg. His average (3 attemps) was just over 192 kg. (425 pounds). 

Dale wasn't the only adult male Amur tiger who faced hard times. In Wild Russia, the going is tough for professional big game hunters, especially in winter. I never saw a picture of a gorged tiger in Russia.

In northern India, Nepal and Bhutan, winter, although quite mild compared to the Russian winter, also is a factor to consider. In summer, tigers often are heavier than in winter. The fluctuations are not as outspoken as in Russia, but those who know say seasons have an effect on the health of tigers. This is without the monsoon, seasonal floods, forest fires, crop failures and mass migrations of prey animals.

What I'm saying is weight can fluctuate in adult wild tigers. Also remember that male tigers in particular keep on growing for a long time. Although old males can be thin as a rail, they also topped the lists for length and weight in the recent past (50-100 years ago).     

4b - Stomach content    

Not a few tigers shot by hunters a century ago or so were baited. Gorged male tigers shot by the Maharajah and his guests had about 60 pounds on non-gorged male tigers of similar size. Food has an effect. No question. But what about tigers incapacitated as a result of a disease or a fight? And what about young adults? Nearly every sample I saw had young adults. Young adult males are not much shorter than mature males, but in weight the effect of age can be considerable.  

In the end, when the sample is large enough, it just about evens out. The average of 53 males shot in northeastern India more than a century ago was 461 pounds. Without the gorged males, it was 453. The sample, however, also included young adults and adults well below par. My guess is that 460 would have been quite close to the mark.

4c - Conclusions     

What I'm saying is it would be best to just record a weight and add a few remarks on the tiger and the local conditions. When the sample is small, details about individuals count. When it's large, the effect of a few gorged or emaciated tigers is limited. 

In a healthy, large and well-protected region, individual variation in large wild mammals like tigers often is pronounced. Although size could be a result of many unknown factors, most agree that vegetation, climate and the size and availability of prey animals have a significant effect on the size of tigers. Tigers in northern India and Nepal are the largest wild big cats today (averages), but in the Sunderbans, tigers of the same subspecies could be smaller than in Sumatra. 

In the end, it is about the general picture. Posters can discuss stomach content, baiting and 11-inch tapes.                 

RELIABILITY

Guate is right in that records need to be reliable. A record without a source is a no-record. We also need info about the method used to measure or weight a tiger. Same for age and general condition. The more we know, the better. Info can help us understand situations that could seem a bit strange.

EXCEPTIONS

When we think of a wild adult male tiger, we see a clever warrior with a nice farm and a large family. Not quite true. Most farms are so large, that it takes 1-2 weeks to do a tour. In Russia, it might take a month. This means that transiensts have a decent chance to mate with one of the adult females in the territory of a mature male with a farm. Some transiensts might challenge the owner of the farm, but others will never be able to compete. Not all adults are large and healthy animals.   

Copters could have a point on the cattle killing male in Bhutan. Maybe he was smaller than others and, therefore, unable to compete. Maybe his size was a result of a crippling disease when he was young, but it could also have been a result of a fight in which he was severely wounded. Maybe he never fully recovered. Incapacitated males, however, can get to adulthood and old age in some conditions. It depends. 

Some decades ago, a seemingly healthy adult male Amur tiger was killed in fight with another male because he wasn't able to defend himself. When young, he suffered from a disease that had a lasting effect. He managed to get to adulthood, but a farm and a family were out of reach. In spite of that, he did quite well, moving all the time. Until that fateful day. Man-eaters and cattle tigers often have a story. Reply