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

[peter]

ABOUT A MALE BROWN BEAR FOUND DEAD IN A NATURE RESERVE IN THE KHABAROVSKY KRAI IN NOVEMBER 2022 - I

1 - Introduction

On 29-11-2022, our member 'Nyers' (many thanks) posted a report about a male brown bear found dead in a reserve in the Khabarovsky Krai in the thread 'Tiger Predation'. I'm referring to the report in post 2,306. The title of the post is: 'Amur tiger killed a brown bear in a nature reserve in the Khabarovsky Territory'. 

In the report posted in that thread, you'll find a link to the source. The link will lead you to the site of the organisation responsible for 8 reserves and national parks in the northeastern part of the Russian Far East. If you read the original report, you'll find a link at the bottom. The link will lead you to the news archive. It has 206 pages. Every page has a number of reports. If you read all of them, you'll find a lot of information about the situation in the period 2015-2023. 

I read all of them and those in which tigers and bears feature in particular. I'm not saying the reports will lead you to the incident mentioned above (referring to the report posted by 'Nyers'), but they will tell you a bit more about the tigers and bears living in that part of Russia and the conditions they face(d). 

My aim was, and still is, to do a series of posts about these reports and the incident mentioned above, but it's isn't easy. The reason is I get a lot of PM's of members asking me to discuss the incident. I have to respond to all of them, which is consuming a lot of time and energy. My request is to stop sending me PM's. I want to use my time to answer a few questions.   

2 - About PM's and the posts I read 

I've read the posts of Apex in this thread and a number of posts in other forums about the incident that happened in November of this year. I asked Apex to stick to the reports of the site mentioned above.   

I don't want to invest my time in discussing posts I read in other forums, but I can tell you not one of them is based on the reports published on the (Russian) site mentioned. In spite of that, those who wrote these posts had no problems moving to dismissals, conclusions, insults, deliberate misinformation and all the rest of it. 

As to those who sent me private messages. They too didn't invest time in research. They did, however, decide to invest their energy in what can only be described as a deliberate attempt to manipulate the co-owner of a forum. I don't like it one bit.  

3 - Research  

As I said above, my aim is to read all reports that have information about the reserves and national parks for which the Federal State Budgetary Institution 'Amur Reserve' is responsible. I finished reading today, but didn't have time to get to conclusions yet. Might take another week. I can, however, tell you a bit more about the things I read. 

In general, the reports will enable you to get to a bit of knowledge about the situation in the reserves and national parks for which the organisation is responsible. I also learned as bit more about the way the staff is trained and about the history, distribution and habits of the animals living in the reserves and national parks.  

3a - Poaching 

In contrast to what many seem to think, poaching still is a problem in reserves and national parks in this region of the Russian Federation. Same for traffic. In the 2020-2021 winter, the Anyuisky National Park alone lost 4 tigers. Three were killed by cars. Another tiger, a large male, was found in a river close to the village of Arsenyevo. The cause of his death is unclear. 

Other animals are poached as well. This is considered a more serious problem, because it often directly affects tigers.  

3b - Bolshekhtsirsky and Anyuisky National Park    

Nearly all reports about tigers are from Bolshekhtsirsky and Anyui. Bolshekhtsirsky, not too far from Chabarowsk, is quite small. In some periods, it has resident tigers, but in others it doesn't. It largely seems to depend on the situation in the wild boar department. Today, tiger 'Odyr' and tigress 'Zlata' make their home in Bolshekthsirsky. Their relationship resulted in two litters. The male tiger seems to be about average in size or a tad smaller (heel width 11 cm), where the tigress (heel width 10 cm) is relatively large. 

The Anyuisky National Park, larger than Bolshekthsirsky, always had breeding tigresses in the period 2015-2023. The one responsible for the cameras in the National Park, junior researcher Alexei Gotvansky, has acquired quite a bit of knowledge about the tigers living in Anyuisky over the years. The National Park has a relatively large tiger population. The reason the high density doesn't result in problems is the National Park is well-stocked with prey animals. When a problem erupts in the wild boar department, tigers do not enter conflicts with their neighbours. They start walking. Adult males in particular roam in these periods.   

3c - Tiger size 

Anyuisky could have the largest wild Amur tigers today. You may remember the heel width of an average adult wild male ranges between 10,5-12,0 cm. A male with a heel width of 13,0 cm is considered large and a male width of 13,5 cm is considered very large. They've seen them in northeastern China more than once. One of the tigers leaving such a print was 270 kg (...). 

In Anyuisky, Gotvansky found prints width a heel width of 15 cm in February 2020 and even one with a width of 16 cm in July 2020. In another part of the national park, there's another male with a heel width of about 16 cm (...). One of these two is the tiger known as 'The Beast'. In May 2021, another 'very large' male, hardly, if at all, smaller than the 'Beast', entered the National Park.

It's all but impossible to tell you anything about the weight of these, to use the words of Gotvansky, 'monster' tigers, but we do know a captive male with a heel width of 14,1 cm in a UK facility was 276-277 kg in his prime. I, by the way, don't think 'monster' is an exaggeration, as Gotvansky, responsible for the cameras, has been walking in Anyuisky for years. If he says the immense male brown bear and the tiger known as the 'Beast' approach 3 meters when standing on their hind legs, he most probably is quite close. Here's the great photograph one more time:

*This image is copyright of its original author

 
3d - Tigers, bears and food problems 

Although Gotvansky repeatedly found remains of Himalayan black bears eaten by tigers, Anyuisky tigers, in spite of their size, do not seem to be prolific bear hunters. They most probably thrive on wild boars. In the summer of 2021, Gotvansky saw bears everywhere and all of them were in good condition. The reason was plenty of food. 

For tigers, the situation was different. The reason was the National Park had only few wild pigs left (a result of a disease) and most of them were large males. Not an easy prey for any tiger. The Anyuisky male tigers, including the 4 monsters mentioned above, didn't respond by starting epic battles with monster male brown bears and monster male wild boars, but entered nordic long distance walking events. Many of them were away for long periods of time.  

In the autumn of that year (2021), bears couldn't find any salmon. On top of that, there was a crop failure. The pictures showed many skinny bears lacking the weight needed to hibernate. Gotvansky was afraid many would pay. The following winter was hard. Deep snow impeded the movements of all.   

How do tigers and bears respond to food pressure? In Anyuisky, it seems tigresses left or even killed their cubs. They also seem to mate more often in these periods. This means many cubs starve to death in, or before, their first winter. I'm not sure about brown bears, but my guess is many cubs starve to death in these years. Adult and old brown bears and tigers know how to overcome food problems, but inexperienced and younger animals do not. They're the ones that pay.  

One thing is for sure. Anyuisky male tigers didn't grow into monsters by hunting monster brown bears and monster wild boars in times of need. Like most of us, they responded with budget cuts and trips to greener pastures.    

3e - Bolshekhtsirsky tigers

Do tigers in Bolshekhtsirsky behave in a similar way as the monster tigers in Anyuisky when faced wih pressure? The answer is they don't. At least, females with cubs don't. That is to say, 'Zlata' didn't. In the 2022 winter, Gotvansky and inspector Lukin found prints of large wild boars. All of them were left by adults. The tigress, without her cubs, followed them. She killed one and waited for her cubs. The reports I read suggest her previous litter also made it to independance.

4 - Questions

In the introduction, I said I didn't have the time to discuss the incident that happened in the last week of November 2022. I'm referring to the male brown bear found in the buffer zone by inspectors of the Federal State Budgetary Institution 'Amur Reserve'. The reason I didn't get to conclusions is a lack of time and a lack of information. The information problem was solved to a degree, but the first wasn't. 

I'm sure quite many of you don't want to wait another week. This is the reason I decided to conclude this post of the series with a few questions. These questions need to be asked in order to find out a bit more about the incident mentioned above. 

4a - The bear 

Watch the video and again. Do you see prints of one bear or two bears? 

Brown bears, and males in particular, can be cannibalistic in times of need. If they succeed in killing a large animal, an animal too large to eat in a single sitting, they often store them in a pile of debris. Do you see a pile in the video? When they kill a human, bears often rest very close to the remains of their victims. They also actively defend their prey. This is why it often is not too difficult to find the bear responsible. Do you see a resting place? Did the inspectors find one? 

4b - The tiger

Watch the prints left by the tiger in the video again. Measure the width of the pad and remember it was left in soft snow. In soft snow, the print of the pad will be a bit wider. Also remember the pad width of male tiger 'Odyr' is 11 cm, whereas the pad with of tigress 'Zlata' is 10 cm. What is the conclusion?  

Tigers, like bears, often rest close to the remains of a large animal they killed. Do you see a resting place of a tiger close to the bear?

Have another look at the remains of the bear. It was half-eaten, the inspectors said. Where do tigers prefer to start? What is the amount of meat a tiger can eat in a single sitting? You ever read a report about a gorged wild Amur tiger? Does the picture fit the pattern?

4c - Snow

The video suggests the depth of the snow cover in the buffer zone is less than 10 cm. This means it isn't likely both animals were impeded. What do the prints you see suggest, if you already know the bear wasn't killed by another bear? 

Why do you think the inspectors concluded the bear was killed after a prolonged fight? You know anything about the way rangers, researchers and inspectors are trained? Is there a competition for them once a year? Do the prints suggest the bear was ambushed? What do you know about tigers and bears using the same trail? Do tigers follow bears or is it the other way round?    

4d - The fight

Most of those interested in bears think an average adult male Ussuri brown bear in good health is more than a match for an adult wild male Amur tiger. The bones of adult male lions, tigers and brown bears I saw in natural history museums confirmed adult male brown bears are more robust. Although shorter (referring to head and body length measured in a straight line), male brown bears are significantly heavier than either a male lion or a male tiger. This means it's very likely a male brown bear has a strength advantage in a fight. True? And why did Krechmar and Pikunov said they roughly compare in tooth and claw? 

Male brown bears, those interested in bears say, have more endurance than big cats. Mayby, but what I read, heard and saw suggest bears fight in a similar way as tigers. They too engage in short bouts in which maximum strength is used and they too take a lot of breaks to regain their breath. Usually, there's little to choose between two bears or tigers of similar size and strength. In spite of that, one of them is sometimes killed. Why is that? 

Tigers often hunt animals smaller than themselves, but experienced males are able to take down animals significantly heavier than themselves. Every tiger has to develop the skills needed to do that, but the blueprint is there. A result of many thousands of years of living on the edge. Tigers unable to use these skills in the most efficient way usually end up wounded or killed sooner or later. Comes with the trade: it very often is do or die for a wild tiger. In the long term, this development will result in something we're unable to understand. Tigers also developed the weapons needed to bring down and quickly kill a larger animal. Adult wild tigers know how to do what when where. If they're unable to take an animal down, they know how to impede or injure it. Last but not least, tigers are able to leave a fight not going their way. Not true for a bear. If a bear is losing a fight with a tiger, it can't leave. 

As to the weapons of tigers. Corbett said tigers kill with their teeth. I measured skulls of captive male Amur tigers and wild male Canadian brown bears. In length and width, there was little to choose between both, but Canadian brown bears have shorter skulls than Ussuri brown bears. Male Ussuri brown bears are just over 15 inches, whereas male Amur tigers are about an inch shorter (averages). The difference between Canadian and Ussuri brown bears is Ussuri brown bears are narrower across the arches. Ussuri brown bears, however, have larger teeth, but tigers top the tables in this department. By a margin. 

My guess is most of you saw this photograph before. It shows the skull of a male liger (not a tiger) and a female brown bear. The liger allegedly was 600 pounds, whereas the brown bear sow was 800. A bit too rounded for my taste, but that's what I found on the site (Taxidermy Forum). I know there's a difference between the skull of a large liger and an average wild male Amur tiger, but Amur tigers have the longest and biggest upper canines of all big cats (averages). This to show you the upper canines of a male Amur tiger are large enough to inflict serious injuries: 

*This image is copyright of its original author

        

4e - Biologists and trainers

There's not a lot of information about interactions between wild Ussuri brown bears and wild Amur tigers. Also remember not every incident is discussed in a peer-reviewed document. That, of course, doesn't mean Ussuri brown bears and Amur tigers have a clean sheet. I don't doubt that biologists working in Wild Russia know a lot more than all of us combined. What is their take? 

Krechmar said there was little to choose between an average male brown bear and an average male Amur tiger, but he didn't doubt the ability of a big male bear in a fight. Vaillant, who interviewed many, leaned towards the male tiger, but confirmed a large bear would best a large tiger. Linda Kerley thought just about anything was possible. 

In the last decade, quite a few of her peers said they favoured one over the other. Those interested in bears think the messenger is to blame, but it is a fact that biologists favouring the male tiger confirmed what Apex said in articles, videos and interviews. I do not doubt they have good reasons to get to that conclusion. The last thing a biologist wants, is to misinform the general public. 
  
Literature suggests the bold, the old and the incapacitated are the usual victims, but the trainers I interviewed told me character often is decisive and the director of the facility where big cats were trained confirmed their conclusion. 

Is the pendulum swinging towards the tiger, or is there something we missed? My guess is it's all of what you read above.  

4f - Forums

Those who join forums often are guided by preference of some kind. At times, it's mild, but more often it's anything but that. I'm not only referring to youngsters, but also to those who should know better, including administrators who distinguish between 'fanboys' and 'enthousiast'. If an administrator, on top of that, decides for deliberate misinformation and dismissals of qualified and experienced biologists, he isn't walking the edge, but deliberately crossing it and contributing to a climate that can only result in crap and animosity. My guess is the organisation hosting his forum will agree.  

The poison administered every bloody day has an effect: I've been contacted by different members of the forum run by this administrator. They repeat the same mantras he teached them and do not hesitate to add a bit of persuation to get to the desired effect. I'm getting sick and tired of it, Brobear. I told you once. This is the second and last time for all to see. Now you can't say you didn't know. 

For those following his example. There's a difference between good information and something else. The information Apex posts in this thread, as said before, is reliable. I want him to focus on good info and so far I'm happy. If you think the info he posts is a result of attitude, address it and inform him. What I see, is the info he posts seems to bother quite a few. The inability to prove it's incorrect or one-sided resulted in frustration and, not unimportant, unfounded accusations. My advice is to let it go and opt for a different strategy and outlook. 

In the end, it's about reality. Reality isn't one-sided and the info posted also isn't resulting in a lack of respect for bears. Far from it. What you sense isn't a result of the 'attitude' of the one all of you target, but of the way you tend to deal with information. Apex for sure is interested in tigers, but that doesn't mean he targets bears. The moment he does, he's out and he knows. What you sense is a man responding to a poisonous climate, meaning you created your enemy yourself. I know dismissing, sidelining and ridiculing the oneselected is considered a delicacy by many, but don't complain about the results. Also remember it, apart from animosity and hostility, never ever produced a decent result. 

As to bears over here. All former bear mods (Brobear, Wolverine and Shadow) left without a word. We could do with a good mod interested in bears. One with an open mind. What we don't want are members involved in serious preference and all the rest of it. The next one sending me a PM about tigers, bears and problems will be banned.                                

4g - To conclude  

If members of forums want answers to the questions they have, they need to ask the right questions. I discussed some, but there are many more.   

In the end, like always, it's about the details. In this case, it's about the individuals involved. Remember this year wasn't easy for both tigers and bears. I'm not saying they were desperate, but it could be some individuals were close. 

Maybe the male bear had a problem, maybe the tiger knew and maybe he decided to use the opportunity. Maybe the tigress considered the bear a threat to the cubs. Maybe there was something else. There are many maybe's.  

I do not doubt the information about palm width and size 'Nyers' added in his post, but one has to remember individual variation in bears is pronounced. It could be the bear, weightwise, was well below par. Maybe he, like many bears in Anyuisky, hadn't been able to find enough food to hibernate. Maybe this was the reason he didn't hibernate.    
   
The second post of the series will be in about a week. Reply