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

[peter]

WINTER ECOLOGY OF THE AMUR TIGER 1970-1973, 1996-2010 (second edition, 2012)

The death of male tiger 'Lenivyi'

Male tiger 'Lenivyi' ('Lazy') had a pad width of 11,5 cm. He often used roads as travel corridors and often bedded while walking. Maybe he was, as his name indicated, not as active as other males. Lazyness most probably wasn't a reason: when he was examined after they had found him, pathological deformations were observed on his limb bones. These deformities could have impeded walking.

His tracks were first encountered on November 25, 1972. Yudakov and Nikolaev tracked this male for about 290 km. They found Lenivyi crossed a significant portion of the territory of another male tiger (with a pad width of 10,5 cm.) in the 1972-1973 winter. Although they were close to each other at times and Lenivyi even used the same bed as this tiger ('Khozyian', or 'Master'), they never met.

Lenivyi met another large male ( 'Moguchyi' or 'Mighty'). This tiger had a pad width of 12,0 cm. They fought. Yudakov and Nikolaev noted the fight happened at the place where the territories of both 'Khozyain' and 'Moguchyi' overlap. For this reason, they thought the fight had " ... the characteristics of a border dispute ... " (pp. 82).

A fight between 'Moguchyi' and 'Lenivyi' at a place where the territories of 'Moguchyi' and 'Khozyain' overlap? Why wasn't 'Khozyain' involved? Well, 'Khozyain' wasn't there. Tiger 'Lenivyi' was. But what was 'Lenivyi' doing at the boundary of two territories that belonged to other male tigers? 

Yudakov and Nikolaev wrote tiger 'Lenivyi' didn't have a territory (pp. 82). This means he was a transient. Why didn't he have a territory? I don't know, but it could be his impediment didn't enable him to establish and hold a territory. Not fit enough.

Anyhow. Tiger 'Moguchyi', maybe because tigress 'Miniatyurnaya' was nearby (pp. 72), reacted extremely aggressive when he met 'Lenivyi'. The fight took place on a mountain slope along a wild boar trail. He drove Lenivyi back and, after some rounds, finally " ... knocked him off the trail. There was a 20-meter strip of bloodied snow, where clumps of fur were found clinging to the bushes. Mortally wounded, Lenivyi fell over a brush pile covered by snow. Holding a postition above him on the slope, Moguchyi turned around and moved past this brush pile along the trail. Lenivyi lay behind the brush pile for a long time, then got up, returned to the trail, and moved along it following Moguchyi (the same direction he was going before encountering Moguchyi) ... " (pp 82-83).

Lenivyi laid down quite often, leaving blood stains in the snow. Finally, he moved to a Korean pine, where he lied down on a bed made by a wild boar. It was at this bed that he died 12 days after the fight with 'Moguchyi':    
   

*This image is copyright of its original author

His front paws " ... had deep lateral wounds inflcited by Moguchyi's claws. Major hemorrhaging was discovered later on the muscles of the front portion of the body. Lenivyi weighed 192 kg. and was 9-10 years old ... " (pp. 83).

The things I remember are 'pathological deformations of the limb bones' (1), 'no territory' (2) and " ... Then, shoving Lenivyi onto a small, open, treeless area, Moguchi knocked him off the trail ... " (3).

I concluded tiger 'Lenivyi' probably was anything but fit. That's why he often rested, that's why he had no territory and that's why he followed other tigers. Perhaps he was hoping for left-overs and a female here and there. The fight with Moguchyi, judging from what I read, wasn't even close to a contest. Moguchi probably knew, as he just left after he had knocked Lenivyi off the trail.  

If Lenivyi suffered from pathological deformities of his limb bones, it's likely he had them as a young tiger as well. In spite of this problem, he made it to adulthood. As it's likely he would have been unable to establish and defend a territory at any given time, one has to assume he probably always was a transient. A tiger surviving on what he finds or takes. A bit like a male 'satellite' brown bear perhaps. They follow tigresses with cubs and rob her when possible. Maybe Lenivyi acted in a similar way and maybe he learned to stay away from trouble over the years, in this way surviving for quite a long time. One day, however, he didn't pay attention. Reply