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

[Apex Titan]

@Matias 

Here's why I think the large male brown bear was most likely a healthy, well-fed brown bear killed by the tiger. Here are some very important facts to note based on the reports and specialists who examined the kill-site:

1) The killed bear is specifically noted to be of "impressive size" with a palm callus width of 18 cm. 

2) Last year (2022) when this bear was killed, there was a good harvest of acorns and plenty of food for bears in the Khekhtsir reserve. Due to this fact, its highly unlikely a bear, especially a big male brown bear would struggle to find enough food to fatten up for hibernation. The bear was killed in late November, but its a fact that some bears will continue to roam the forests until mid-December when there is plenty of food in the forest. Which was the case in this reserve!

3) Not a single report even implies, let alone mentions that the killed bear could have been "weakened", "connecting-rod", "dying from starvation", a "desperate" individual etc, nothing. None of the forest rangers and specialists who found the killed bear stated that the bear could have possibly been weakened or a shatun bear. Whenever a shatun-bear (connecting-rod) is killed in any scenario, it is always specifically stated in the news reports. But not in this case.

4) The reports specifically mention that the bear "didn't have time to hibernate" or was "about to go into hibernation." Which again, strongly suggests that the brown bear was a healthy, well-fed bear about to go into hibernation, but was attacked, killed and eaten by a tiger before he could.

5) The battle-ground was examined by forest guards, inspectors & rangers. Yuri Kya is a highly trained and experienced expert in judging the traces of wild animals in the forest. These same forest inspectors and rangers also oversee and take part in the census of wild animals in the Khekhtsir reserve. They also know the animals very intimately, and also know the tiger Odyr very well.

6) Although the tiger wasn't injured from the fight, it still wasn't an easy battle. The specialists found clear traces all over the forest clearing of a long, serious fight between the tiger and bear. So the big bear had the energy, strength and endurance to fight the tiger for a prolonged period of time in the snow, which is even more tiring for both animals.

7) The paw width of the killer tiger's tracks matched the size of Odyr's. The bear was also killed in the tiger Odyr's territory. He most often lives in that particular area of the reserve.

In another later report about the census of animals in the Khekhtsir reserve, Yuri Kya mentioned that Odyr had killed the brown bear:

“According to my analysis of the movement of tigers, it turns out the following: on November 27, Odyr was noted by us on the carcass of a bear that he had killed earlier; on November 30, he was noticed by a detachment of border troops at the junction of the Bogdanovskaya-Chirkinskaya outposts."

Here is the fully accurate English translation of the Russian text. Yandex translate (Russian company):

“According to my analysis of the movement of tigers, it turns out the following: on November 27, Odyr was marked by us on the carcass of a bear he had extracted earlier; on November 30, he was spotted by a border guard outfit at the junction of Bogdanovskaya-Chirkinskaya outposts."

https://www.province.ru/habarovsk/news/t...logov.html

So Yuri Kya and the other specialists, seem quite sure that the tiger 'Odyr' killed the big male brown bear. All in all, taking all these factors into account: tiger paw print size, area and assumptions of the experts, I'm sure that the tiger responsible for killing the large male brown bear was Odyr. And the bear he killed, was most likely a healthy, well-fed male brown bear about to go into hibernation, but unfortunately got unlucky, as he was attacked and killed by a tiger.

Why would the tiger attack such a large male brown bear?  Well, its well documented that tigers prefer to hunt bears in summer and autumn, when bears have gained weight. A large, well-fed bear will provide the tiger with plenty of meat. Sergey Kolchin (biologist who studies tigers and bears in Khabarovsk) also added that brown bears are common prey for adult male tigers. Tkachenko, a biologist who also studied bear-hunting tigers in the Khekhtsir reserve, also reported that when tigers hunt brown bears, the male tigers more often hunt adults, larger bears.

According to biologist Sergey Kucherenko's observations, when a tiger kills a 200-300 kg bear, it feeds the tiger for about 8-10 days:

"Our numerous observations have also shown that an adult tiger eats a pig of average fatness (about 30 kilograms) or half of a two-year-old pig in one go. A red deer or a wild boar with a live weight of 150-200 kilograms is usually eaten by a tiger in a week. A crushed large bear (weighing 200-300 kg) has an animal that lives for 8-10 days."

https://litresp.ru/chitat/ru/%D0%9A/kuch...bya-doma/6

Its very likely that Odyr has successfully hunted adult brown bears before, and due to his experience, he decided to attack and kill a large adult male brown bear that was trespassing in his territory, but also a big, juicy bear that would feed him nicely. Reply