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

[Apex Titan]

A new recent video of Pavel Fomenko (a leading tiger expert, game biologist & chief coordinator of the Amur branch of WWF Russia) answering the question of who is stronger, a tiger or a bear.

Tiger and bear - Who is stronger?  "Tiger educational program" Issue 4.

March 24, 2022

"Who is stronger - a bear or a tiger? How many kittens does a female bring and why don't all of them survive? In the fourth edition of the program "Tiger Educational Program" about how small predators become the kings of the taiga."

"In the Year of the Tiger, everything about the kings of the taiga is told by Pavel Fomenko, a man who devoted his whole life to the Red Book cats, the chief coordinator of the rare species department of the Amur branch of WWF Russia."

https://vestiprim.ru/news/ptrnews/120691...usk-4.html

Questions by the interviewer: (I had this translated by a Russian poster 'Negans')

Tell me why are tigers called the Kings of the taiga?

At the beginning of this interview, Fomenko is asked this question. Why are tigers called the 'Kings of the taiga' ??....

Fomenko states: Remember, in nature there is a pyramid, and a specialized predator (apex predator) at the top of this pyramid, under which everything else (all other animals) are below. So there is a king, and the tiger is the king at the top of the pyramid (food-chain). So maybe, thats why.

He also adds: because the tiger is at the top of the food-chain and pyramid, the whole structure of this pyramid (animals & ecosystem) relies on a stable and healthy tiger population. This is why the tiger is one of the most important elements of nature, this is why we need the tiger. We need the tiger as one of the most important elements of the biocoenosis of wildlife in Far East Russia.

Who is stronger, a tiger or a bear?

Interviewer: I saw that there are a lot of such queries in Google and Yandex: Who is stronger, the tiger or the bear?

Fomenko: Well, you know, judging by the fact that I often find bear claws in tiger excrement, there's the answer for you (he laughs), who is stronger.

Interviewer: Well, basically, in principle its the tiger that hunts the bear like a delicious.... fatty, well, for a delicious fatty steak, or do they have any other conflict situations?

Fomenko: Uh, well, conflicts (fights) may happen, but quite rarely. Such stories are known, but, of course, the tiger hunts bears for a delicious fat steak.

Then at 5:11 in the video, Fomenko states that tigresses with cubs (and tigers in general) are unpretentious, they can sleep, in general, wherever they feel comfortable. They will even sleep in old bear dens, and fresh bear dens and will even pull bears out of their dens, kill and eat them.

Use English subtitles:

Near the end of this video (12:13) Pavel Fomenko says that he observed a case of a tiger that killed a bear and dragged the bears body a kilometer:

The fact that tigers regularly hunt and kill bears, is a clear indication for Pavel Fomenko that the tiger is the stronger and superior beast. For the tiger, as Fomenko states, the bear is a "fat tasty steak". 

Fomenko, like other Russian biologists & researchers (Sergey Kolchin and Alexander Batalov etc) often finds the remains of bears (brown bears & black bears) in tigers excrements. When deer remains are often found in tiger excrements, that means that the tiger is regularly hunting deer. When wild boar remains are often found in tiger excrements, that means that the tiger is regularly hunting wild boar, and the fact that bear remains & claws are frequently found in tiger excrements by numerous biologists, also confirms that tigers regularly hunt, kill and eat bears. Recent scientific studies and data also confirms this (Miquelle, Kerley, Matiukhina; 2015).

In addition, Russian tiger researcher 'Viktor Storozhuk' reports that some tigers habitually hunt bears, and prefer killing and eating bears instead of ungulate prey animals:

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://iz.ru/677772/2017-12-01/tigr-i-l...-natcparke

https://primamedia.ru/news/650351/

http://programmes.putin.kremlin.ru/en/tiger/news/25644

The first statement (beginning of the video) made by Fomenko basically confirms the information I posted about tigers being regarded as the 'King & Lord of the Ussuri taiga'. And also confirms the statement made by Franz Hafner in his recent documentary (2021) about Amur tigers called: "Amur tiger - Master of the taiga". Hafner mentions that in the Far East of Russia (Ussuri taiga) bears are not the apex predators, because they are hunted, killed and eaten by the tigers. - The regions top predator.

Franz Hafner continues: "In the jungle of the Far East, the tiger is the master."

https://tv.orf.at/program/orf2/universum238.html

In the ecosystem of the Amur-Ussuri taiga and Manchurian taiga forests, the Amur tiger sits at the top of the food-chain and pyramid. The tiger is the dominant carnivore and apex predator of these forests and regions. Bears, as Fomenko and various other biologists observe and report, are usual prey for tigers.

Overall, knowing what I know about tigers and bears in Far East Russia, and considering the fact that bears are regularly killed and eaten by tigers in this region, my respect for both brown bears and Himalayan black bears has increased even more. Its very brutal what tigers do to bears in the Russian Far East, and the fact that bears have to live in such a dangerous environment and co-exist with a huge apex predator like a tiger that actively hunts them, demands respect for the bear, no doubt.

Modern extant bears like brown bears have also survived alongside other massive extinct apex predators like Sabre-tooth cats, cave lions, dire wolves, short-faced bears and pleistocene tigers. Quite amazing. Reply