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

[peter]

PANTHERA TIGRIS AMOYENSIS - K


K1 - A few recent photographs from the Daba Mountains

The photographs below are from the second article of Li-Yuan Liu: 'Evidence of the existence of the wild tiger Panthera tigris amoyensis (Hilzheimer, 1905) in South China (Mammalia, Felidae)', which was published in 2011 in 'Biodiversity Journal, 2011, 2 (4): pp. 171 -178.

I decided to scan the photographs, because they are important. 

We'll start with prints of the forefoot left by a big tiger:

*This image is copyright of its original author

The other photographs of prints of the forefoot are convincing as well. Same for the photograph showing the claw of a tiger. The photographs of the cow and the wild boar also strongly point towards a big cat, but I'm not quite sure about the photographs of the scratched trees. The reason is I've seen trees in a similar condition that were used by bears.

Bears? In the Daba Mountains?

Yes. There are black bears in that part of China: Himalayan black bears (Ursus tibetanus). Ursus tibetanus mupinensis apparently is different from black bears in the southwest and northeast of China.  

I remember a report about a black bear found dead in the Daba Mountains not so long ago. They thought it had been killed by a tiger. Could be. In southeastern Russia, nearly all bears killed by tigers were killed with a bite to the base of the skull. The report about the black bear killed in the Daba Mountains, however, lacked details.

I know that many field experts trying to determine traces left by a big cat or a bear often use their nose to get to an opinion. Maybe Liu was one of them.

Anyhow. Here are the other photographs:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reply