Amur Tigers

[peter]

I read the recent reports on male tiger 'Banzai' (183 cm. in head and body and 207 kg.) and male tiger 'Luke' (212 kg.). Both, in my opinion (based on photographs), were shortish and stocky. I don't think 'Luke' is the limit for this reason.

Yudakov and Nikolaev followed 3 male tigers and 2 females between 1970-1973. One of the 3 males was an adult transient. A 'pro', who had learned to survive without a territory. He didn't, because he suffered from health problems. At age 9 or 10, he met tiger 'Moguchi' and lost the fight. Twelve days later, he died. Although unfit, he was 192 kg. Just over the average, that is. 

His opponent, who had a larger pad (12 cm. versus 11,5 cm.), probably was a larger animal ('Moguchi' means mighty). From the traces in the snow, he had no problem to get rid of the professional transient. Yet, he was dwarfed by a tiger described as 'very large'. This tiger had a pad width of 13,5 cm. 

I don't know if there is a direct relation between pad width, body dimensions and weight, but the information I have on Amur tigers suggests there is. A pad width of 12 cm. is considered large. I wonder about the 13,5 cm. pad width. Maybe Krechmar, asked about his opinion on the size of extra-large wild Amur tigers, will be proved right one day. Here's the page in the great book of Yudakov and Nikolaev:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Yudakov and Nikolaev also saw scratch marks on trees. They ranged between 210-290 cm. But this photograph, taken recently, shows some males can get over 290 cm.:

*This image is copyright of its original author

We also know some females can grow to a large size:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Now just suppose she would meet him:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Or him:

*This image is copyright of its original author

 
 

If conditions improve and the number of tigers rises, Amur tigers could show a similar amount of variation in size as in other regions. The longest Indian tigers, measured in a straight line, range between 10.4-10.8. They are far and few between, but there's no question animals of this length were there. Amur tigers are a bit longer. One would expect some to get to that length or a bit over. My calculation, based on skulls, was 10.10-11.2 as a potential maximum. In weight, there would be little to choose. It would depend on the conditions. For now, India has the best conditions, but that could change. South-east Russia has more potential. The reason is less humans and more uninterrupted forests. The only thing missing is wild boars.

*This image is copyright of its original author

 

  Reply