Zoos, Circuses, Safaris: A Gallery of Captivity

[Amnon242]

(12-28-2018, 08:43 AM)johnny rex Wrote:

(12-28-2018, 12:59 AM)Amnon242 Wrote:

(12-27-2018, 03:18 PM)peter Wrote:

(12-27-2018, 01:22 AM)Amnon242 Wrote: Same male as above, I think he was born at summer 2012...and the video has been published in october 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55bynZQkI0E

Similar to what I saw in captive Amur tigers playing with wood and rope: they rise on their hind legs, use the claws to hold on and tire the opponent, bite sideways and can keep in that position for 10-30 seconds. The jaw strength often is amazing. I saw quite a few wooden poles completely destroyed after some time.

As to estimating weight. You first need to know the age of the tiger. In captivity, they reach adulthood sooner than in the wild. Most captive adult male Amur tigers, at about 175-215 cm. in head and body length in a straight line, average 170-240 kg. in their prime. The robusticy-index, therefore, is 1.00 - 1.15. If the tiger is long, tall and lanky, the index usually is lower (0.80 - 1.0). If the tiger is muscular, it is 1.15-1.35, at times even higher. If the tiger is both long (in excess of 200 cm. straight) and robust (index 1.30 or higher), a rare combination, the maximum weight can range between 250-280 kg. Exceptional individuals can exceed 300 kg. without being obese.

This in typical captive male Amur tigers. With 'typical', I mean the front part of the body is much more developed than the lower back and hind legs. If the tiger is bulky in that department as well, the weight could exceed 300 kg. The white male tiger in a facility in South-Africa, although not very long and tall, was 299 kg. because he was bulky all the way. Hard to believe, but true.

Typical Indian tigers not seldom are massive in all respects. At average length (170-200 cm. in head and body length), males still often well exceed 200 kg. in their prime. Typical Amur tigers have a different model (see above). An Amur tiger mixed with a different subspecies often exceeds his parents in size. They also have a different attitude (more alert, more high-strung and more explosive).

When it comes to weight I personally would say, that PRIME captive amur males are usually 190 - 260 kg. 170 kg is not impossible, but its really low...

BTW this amur male is one of the biggest I have ever seen (but the photo is not mine), certainly over 250 kg. Bear like creature, with heavy front part of the body...

When it comes to attitude, various big cat breeders told me, that mentality of tigers (or felids) depends on how wild or domesticated their ancestors are (what is the captive generation), whether they have been raised with other animals or with humans and what is their captive environment (incl. enrichment). All breeders told me that they dont see any difference among various tiger subspecies - its strictly individual. Also tigers are extremely variable when it comes to mentality, in contrast to lions, who are more or less the same - perhaps this is the reason, why tigers are more "controversial" - as far as I know every breeder or trainer likes lions, but there are some who really dislike tigers.

You've seen this tiger too? So this tiger possessed the biggest skull of all the other cats that you've observed personally?

This tiger (in the video) is called Oliver, i saw him  in 2014 when he was 2 yo. He was of standard size, now he is probably over 200 kg.

That massive tiger was called Skip and I saw him in 2013. He was 17yo back then but still impressive...very impressive. Next to him was another amur male, 200 kg (weighted) and Skip was obviously substantially larger. 

When it comes to skulls I would choose that barbary lion or Igor...but basically I have no idea, for me all those huge felids have more or less same skulls Reply