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Tigers have good endurance?
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 (05-02-2019, 04:04 AM)smedz Wrote: I was watching an episode from Animalogic on tigers, and the host says that unlike other cats, tigers have pretty good endurance which allows them to chase prey longer than other cats. I always thought tigers had terrible endurance. Is what this person says true? 1 - How to use reliable info to get to misinformation Nearly everything presented in the video is based on research. This means it, informationwise, should be solid. It isn't. How possible? The answer is selection. Only highlights were selected. Is it possible to completely crap a video by selecting highlights only? No problem. Example. Let's assume I have to do a video on humans for aliens. One that has to attract attention. I'll start by saying humans can grow to 7 feet in length and 600 pounds in weight. That would not be incorrect. If I add they can swim twenty miles in open water in one go, climb enormous mountains in a few days and survive fights with impressive carnivores, I would still be quite safe. If I, to wind up the concert, conclude the video by saying they can produce machines to explore the globe in a few hours and even change the climate, I'd still not be cheating. In spite of all that, I would have produced a 10-minute video loaded with crap. More than enough to qualify for serious treatment, most would say. Freedom of thought and speech have advantages, but not all the time. 2 - Concrete examples of misinformation: size The remark on the size of Amur tigers at the start of the video is from 'Die Säugetiere der Sowjetunion', Band III, Raubtiere (V.G. Heptner and A.A. Sludskij, German translation, Jena, 1980). It's one of the best I read, but the information on size, to put it mildly, is highly questionable. The reason is the sources they used (Baikov, Barclay, Sysoev and a host of others) are unreliable. V. Mazak, who also used Baikov and Barclay in the first edition of his great book 'Der Tiger', was severely punished by his peers, but Heptner and Sludskij, using the same sources and producing the same conclusions on the size of Amur tigers as Mazak, are still regarded as a reliable source. The result is many still think an average male Amur tiger is 13 feet and 650 pounds. It has to be admitted that reliable information on the size of wild Amur tigers a century ago is hard to find. Most unfortunately, things didn't change later. Those involved in the STP (Siberian Tiger Project) published a table in 2005. That table says male Amur tigers of 3 years and older average 389 pounds and about 9.8 in total length measured 'over curves' today. And today is 1992-2005. The sample used, however, is small and includes a number of 'problem tigers' and young adults. As it is known that the difference between young adults and adults is significant in big cats (referring to total length, weight and skulls), one has no option but to conclude that things in the department of size are about as unclear as before. According to Ullas Karanth, tigers captured in Chitwan (Nepal), Nagarahole (India) and Sichote-Alin (Russia) today (three decades ago) are about the same size ('Tigers', 2001, pp. 48). But he too used Heptner and Sludskij regarding the size of Amur tigers and he didn't say that tigers in Nepal and India are considerably heavier than their relatives in Russia. Furthermore, in another publication, he stated that measurements taken 'over curves' are more reliable than measurements taken 'between pegs'. Although he turned the world upside down in this respect, I never read any comments of his peers. But V. Mazak, who also referred to measurements taken 'over curves' in the first publication of his book 'Der Tiger', is still regarded as unreliable in the department of measurements. This although he later only used measurements taken 'between pegs' and measured captive tigers in this way himself. One of the very few who did. One could write a book on the best method to measure wild big cats (measurements taken 'over curves' are unreliable, because the method can be applied in different ways) and the criteria used to judge peers, but I decided to focus on the video. A century ago, tigers shot in the northern part of British India were measured in the same way as today. The information I have suggests they compared to wild Amur tigers today for length, but those in Nepal were, and are, a bit longer. And quite a bit heavier. Same for tigers in northern India. In order to add to the confusion, captive Amur tigers are quite a bit larger than their wild relatives. Most captive Amur tigers are descendents of wild Amur tigers captured in the fifties and sixties of the last century. Those who studied historic records of wild Amur tigers (referring to the 2005-publication discussed above) concluded the decline in size started in 1970 or thereabout. 3 - Tigers hunting in water I thought I saw a post saying jaguars are more capable hunters than tigers in deep water. I know jaguars can kill a caiman about their own weight (but usually quite a bit less), but those comparing them to tigers in this respect should read a bit about Sunderban tigers. Not a few of them have been known to swim to boats to secure a human victim. Although most boats had guards to prevent just that, tigers often succeeded to enter and leave boats unseen at night. This in spite of the combined weight of tiger and victim. Ever tried to swim a few hundred yards, lift your body into a boat, kill a man, leave without being heard and swim back to shore with a man at least half your weight? How able can you get? 4 - Smedz Most of us try to learn a few things in life. The only reliable way to get to knowledge is to work hard and continue for as long as you live. Every now and then, someone will assist you. Doesn't happen often, but it happens. Help often is you saying something and being proven wrong. Shadow responded to the video. A debate erupted. I decided to do a post. The question was answered. You responded by downgrading the first one prepared to help out. Compares to shooting the one getting you out of the water when your ship sank and sharks invited you for a swim. Here's a few words on help. From day one, you have to learn. Not easy by any means. Every now and then, you get a lucky break meaning someone is prepared to help you. Help often opens doors to new rooms. Rooms you never heard of. My advice is to quit watching flashy videos with background music, fancy drawings and highlights. Count to ten when your ego says help isn't fair, start reading some serious books, undo the downgrading, say thank you and focus on cougars. |
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