Big cat and Bear tale

[brotherbear]

Intraspecific relationships between brown bears, Asiatic black bears and the
Amur tiger
Seryodkin, I.V.1, J.M. Goodrich2, A.V. Kostyria3, E.N. Smirnov4, D.G. Miquelle2
1 Pacific Geographical Institute, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia, 690041
2 Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY, 10460, USA
3 Institute of Biology and Soil Science, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia, 690022
4 Sikhote-AlinState Biosphere Zapovednik, Terney, Russia, 692150
In the Russian Far East, the Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), brown bear (Ursus arctos) and Asiatic black bear (U.
thibetanus) all share the same habitat. These three species all prefer deciduous and mixed wood forests. In the Sikhote-Alin
protected area, the relationship between bears and a tiger were studied during extensive telemetry research in the region.
During the non-denning period bears scavenged 16.7% of surveyed tiger kills (n=427). Brown bears scavenged tiger kills
6.7 times more often, than Asiatic black bears. The frequency of autumn scavenging by bears was less than spring (X2 = 8.7,
df= 1, p= 0.003) andsummer (X2 = 10.5, df= 1, p= 0.012). In 44.4% of cases the bears scavenged tiger kills only after the
tiger had abandoned the kill site. In at least 4 cases (11.1 %) bears displaced tigers from a kill, while in 4 cases both tigers
and bears utilized the kill during the same period. Analysis has shown that 2.1% of bears diet is obtained from tiger kills,
1.4% for brown bears and 0.7% from Asiatic black bears. In 44 recorded encounters between tigers and bears, the tiger
initiated contact in 12 cases while the bear initiated contact in 8 cases. Of these encounters, 50% resulted in the death of the
bear, 27.3% resulted in the death of the tiger and in 22.7% of encounters both animals survived and parted ways. Records
of tigers killing Asiatic black bears are unclear. Tigers can prey on denning bears, and the Asiatic black bear have better
protected dens then brown bears. Bears often follow tiger tracks through deep snow for ease of movement, to scavenge tiger
kills and to potentially prey on tigers. Tigers, brown bears and Asiatic black bears all use the same mark and rub trees.
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