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

[peter]

THE RELATION BETWEEN HEEL WIDTH AND WEIGHT IN WILD MALE AMUR TIGERS - II (continuation of I)

e - Heel width and weight in wild Amur tigers found dead in the period 1970-1994

Our supermod @tigerluver recently posted the results of a number of computations based on the table in my first post in this series. He concluded that an adult male Amur tiger with a heel width of 13,5 cm. most probably ranges somewhere between 221-291 kg. That 'somewhere' is affected by a number of (largely unknown) factors. Health no doubt is one of them.   

The table in my first post of this series is based on healthy wild Amur tigers. The conditions in the Russian Far East, however, are far from easy. Not a few tigers struggle with the conditions. I'm not only referring to cubs and old tigers. Young adults also often seem to need quite some time to adapt. 

Although the conditions in the Russian Far East have improved in the last decades, quite many tigers still perish well before their time. Poaching is a factor, but there are more. 

In 1993, Igor G. Nikolaev and Victor G. Yudin published 'Conflicts between man and tiger in the Russian Far East'. An English translation was published a few years later. Although the publication is interesting all the way, it is about the tables in this post. The reason is they have information about the relation between heel width ('front paw pad width') and weight in tigers found dead in the period 1970-1994. 

I can hear you say 1970-1994 in a document first published in Russian in 1993? Yes. On top of that, in the abstract, Nikolaev and Yudin say the data were collected in Primorye in the period 1970-1996. A bit confusing, I admit, but my guess is the explanation is not that difficult. Most data were collected in the period 1970-1992. These were used for the document published in Russian in 1993. The English translation, published a few years later, has one extra incident. It could have been the only incident in the period 1994-1996.      

The tables no doubt have an effect on the equations referred to above, because quite a few tigers in the table were in bad shape before they perished. This, most probably, is the reason some of them entered sheds and attacked domestic animals (including dogs) in the first place. Most males were wounded and/or killed by humans, but others perished in conflicts with other animals. One male was killed by a male tiger, another was killed by a bear and a third male was killed by a wild boar. A fourth male almost lost his paw in a fight with a bear and two others were wounded by a wild boar and, most probably, a bear. One male drowned in a river after he had been severely injured by a horse.

The tables, apart from 1 male and 1 female killed in Khasansky District in 1987, do not include tigers killed by poachers in the winters 1991-1992 and 1992-1993. In these 2 winters, nearly 70 Amur tigers were killed by poachers (...). 

Here's a scan of the abstract:   
 

*This image is copyright of its original author

Here are the scans of the 3 tables (38 males, 18 females and 6 cubs). 

The 'heel width' of male tigers ranged between 9,5-12,0 cm. Young adult males ranged between 9,5-12,0 cm, whereas adult males, most probably, ranged between 10,5 and 12,0 cm. In females, the range was 8,5-10,0 cm.

The heaviest male was 192 kg. This, otherwise healthy, male (discussed in this thread some years ago) wasn't able to move properly as a result of a disease. His heel width was 11,5 cm. Another male was 185 kg. (heel width 11,6 cm). 

The heaviest young adult male was 180 kg. (heel width 10,0 cm.). Another was 175 kg. (heel width 12,0 cm.) and in excellent condition when he perished. Two other young adults were 149 kg. (heel width 10,5 cm.) and 150 kg. (heel width 10,5 cm.). Three 3-year old males were shot after they had attacked domestic animals (and a man). They were 125 kg. (heel width 10,5 cm.), 130 kg. (heel width 10,3 cm.) and 135 kg. (heel width 9,7 cm.). The last male was shot in a dynamite-store (...). 

There are no details about the tiger killed by a bear in Progranichny in 1972, but the tiger killed by a wild boar was 136 kg. (heel width 12,0 cm.). The male tiger wounded by a bear in 1981 was 168 kg. (heel width 11,8 cm.). Another male with a similar injury was 165 kg. (heel width 10,5 cm.). Both males were adult and, judging from the relative fat index, in reasonable shape.    

The heaviest adult female was 130 kg. (heel width 9,5 cm.). She was killed by poachers in 1987. Two adult tigresses shot in 1985 suffered from blisters. It must have affected them: in weight, they were well below par. In 1986, an oldish tigress died from starvation in Ussurisk. She was 65 kg. only (heel width 9,0 cm.):

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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