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

[peter]

PANTHERA TIGRIS ALTAICA 2


2a - The Russian Far East (RFE) 

The Russian Far East is a very interesting region for a number of reasons. The first of these no doubt is politics. A large part of what's now Primorye belonged to China only a century and a half ago. The Russians got it by making the Chinese an offer they, ehh, couldn't refuse. It might have saved the Amur tiger when the population was down to 20-40 individuals in the thirties and forties of the last century: after Kaplanov had rung the bell, it was decided to protect the Amur tiger. Manchurian tigers were not so lucky. I don't know when they vanished, but the very large male shot by the Jankowski's near the Sungari River in July 1943 could have been one of the last. 

Climate comes second. The Martime Province is affected by different weather systems. One result is instability. In 'Dersu The Trapper', V.K. Arseniev describes the terrible results of severe storms. Not seldom, he saw large sections of forest completely flattened. Another result is very outspoken contradictions: winters are long and severe, but summers are almost subtropical. This has an effect on both humans and animals.

The third reason, no doubt a result of the second, is the unreal mix of animals. Some of them are taiga animals, whereas others are typical for subtropical or even tropical regions. In the RFE, Himalayan black bears, Ussuri brown bears, wolves, leopards and tigers are neighbours.    


2b - Bears and tigers in the Russian Far East

Bears are omnivores and scavengers, whereas big cats are hunters. This means it's very likely that bears will visit tiger kills. It also means that both meet at times. What is 'at times'? 

In the RFE, there are about 500 tigers. There could be about 5 000 bears, maybe more. If we add proximity, excellent noses (bears), few prey animals, regular crop failures and competition for food, chances are that interactions between tigers and bears could be quite frequent. More frequent than is assumed. 

Tiger 'Boris', also known as Putin's tiger, was trained in a rehabilitation center when he was young. When he was ready to go, Boris was released in a region that had few tigers. Important, as he only was a subadult at that time. Boris had no problems making a living in the wild. He hunted wild boars, including large males. We know, because he had a collar.

Every now and then, researchers visited the places Boris had used. In this way, they found the remains of the wild boars. They also found the remains of bears on 2 occasions. One of them was a 3-year old brown bear. They couldn't identify the other, as there was not much left of the bear. Was Boris already an accomplished bear-hunter at that young age? Not likely. It's more likely that the wild boars he had killed had attracted bears. At least 2 of them found Boris at home when they visited his kill. Disputes at kill sites are quite common. 

Was Boris unique regarding bears? Not likely. Another collared tiger, a subadult female, also hunted wild boars. Her kills attracted bears as well. This tigress avoided contact, in this way preventing a potentially dangerous dispute.

Based on what was published by THE AMUR TIGER PROGRAMME, the conclusion is that tigers learn about bears the hard way when still in their teens. Some, like Boris, are able to overcome them, whereas others don't know how to deal with them and avoid them when possible. 


2c - Fights between bears and tigers

As a result of a lack of good information, many assume that fights between adult tigers and bears are singular events. Some years ago, I joined a debate about tigers and bears on AVA. Before I did, I decided to read anything available about tigers and bears. Nearly everything I read had been written by experienced biologists, meaning the information I had was reliable.

When I was done, I got to well over a 100 fights (bears killed for food were excluded) that had ended in a tragic way. Assuming that the incidents that were described or pieced together were the tip of the iceberg (the RFE is huge, whereas the numbers of researchers is limited), the conclusion was that disputes could be more frequent than is assumed 

As to the outcome of fights. The information I collected confirmed the opinion of authorities, who concluded that tigers win most fights. The problem is that details about the individuals involved in disputes often are lacking. Russian authorities concluded that tigers win most fights in their weight category. This means that it is very likely that most of the bears killed were juveniles, subadults and females. Adult male bears, however, are a different story.

When a male bear reaches adulthood, extra layers of muscle on the shoulder and neck develop. Adult male brown bears also are heavier than adult male tigers. As they more or less compare in head and body length, this means that adult male brown bears are more robust than adult male Amur tigers. In a fair fight, therefore, one has to fancy the chances of male brown bears. Russian authorities agree, but they added that brown bears 'win on points'. Fatalities, therefore, are rare. One reason is that male tigers can leave a fight not going they way, which is not true for bears. As a result, statistics about the outcome of fights could be biased towards tigers, some think.

As to the fatalities. Fights between males that ended in a tragic way have been described in a number of posts in this thread. Two of the male bears killed were 'Shatuns'. Non-hibernating bears are very hungry and desperate animals, prepared to attack anything. Most of them die sooner or later. Another male bear was killed by the largest tiger the Jankowski's had even seen. Most of the male tigers killed were young adults killed by male bears described as 'large' or 'very large' (some individuals of Ursus arctos lasiotus can reach 1 000 pounds and over). Maybe the tigers were desperate as well and maybe they were overconfident. All in all, one could say that abnormal circumstances at times produced casualties (bears). Inexperience also could have been a factor (tigers). 

   
2d - Adult male Amur tiger dies in Khabarovsk Territory

The story in this paragraph is based on reports published by THE AMUR TIGER PROGRAMME. This means it is reliable.

In November 2014, a young male tiger strayed into a village in the Vyazemsky District. He attacked a dog and was taken to the Utyos Wild Animals Rehabilitation Centre. On May 28, 2015, about 6 months later, the tiger, estimated at about 3 years of age, was released into the wild in the Khabarovsk territory. As he had a collar, researchers were able to monitor him for a long time.

About 6 weeks later, he had settled in the Anyuisky National Park. The tiger avoided everything connected to humans, including settlements and roads. This means that researchers often had to move through difficult terrain in order to find out a bit more. 

Late November 2015, the male nicknamed 'Uporny' (meaning 'tough' or 'tenacious') had moved to the Gur River Basin (part of the Gursky Wildlife Sanctuary in Komsomolsky District). Not much later, he met a tigress. In september 2016, she had cubs. In order to monitor the family, researchers decided to use the collar for another 18 months. 

On February 17, 2017, the signal was lost. In mid-March, researchers decided to visit the site where the last signal had been received. They found a dead tiger. Experts think Uporny " ... died from wounds to this head and back caused by a brown bear attack ... ":

*This image is copyright of its original author

2e - A few remarks  

After reading the report above, I decided to find out a bit more about 'Uporny' and the winter in the Khabarovsk Territory. Tiger 'Uporny' was 4,5-5 years of age when he died on February 17, 2017. Although researchers arrived about a month later, the carcass was still there. This means that the tiger had not been consumed. As temperatures had been well below zero between mid-February and mid-March, my guess is the tiger was frozen.

Tigers killed by other tigers often die from wounds to the skull. Tigers killed by bears die from strangulation or internal damage (fractures). Uporny died from wounds to his head and back, meaning it isn't a clear-cut case. Although experts concluded a brown bear could have been involved, there are reasons for doubt.

Brown bears in the RFE hibernate. Uporny was killed in mid-February. This means he was killed in winter. If he was killed by a brown bear, chances are it was a 'Shatun' (non-hibernating bear). A 'Schatun' is a starving and often desperate animal willing to attack anything in order to eat. But 'Uporny' wasn't consumed.

Some bears are known as 'satellite-bears'. These bears do not hibernate. According to researchers, they solve the food problem by following tigresses with cubs. These bears most probably don't fear male tigers. The drive of these bears is food. If 'Uporny' would have been killed by a 'satellite-bear', chances are he would have been consumed. But he wasn't. 

I found a few recent reports about bears in the Russian Far East. As a result of a crop failure, many bears died in the period 2015-2017. Those that survived, were far below par. This means that it is likely that many bears are close to starvation:

http://siberiantimes.com/ecology/casestudy/news/hungry-exhausted-only-half-their-normal-weight-tragedy-for-black-bears/

As it is likely that brown bears also were affected by the crop failures, more of them would have been prepared to risk a fight with a tiger in order to get access to their kills. But if they would prevail in a fight, the tiger would have been eaten.       

Another possibility is that 'Uporny' was involved in a fight with a male tiger. Amur tigers mate in winter. Many hunters and researchers wrote about intense fights. The ferocity and the sounds drove some of them nearly insane. Male tigers mutilate their opponents at times, but they very rarely eat them.

All in all, I would get to unclear for now. It could have been a brown bear, but a male tiger can't be excluded. We have to wait for the autopsy report. I hope it will be published, but I don't think it's likely: THE AMUR TIGER PROGRAMME never published an autopsy report before. Reply