Amur Tigers

[Apex Titan]

(03-01-2022, 06:16 AM)peter Wrote:

(02-25-2022, 05:25 PM)GreenGrolar Wrote:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Is anyone able to tell me how heavy Final 16 (tiger on the right) is?

I read about this tiger in one of the threads of the former AVA forum. I have no information about his weight, but remember he was quite a bit bigger than the other lions and tigers. As they thought he might kill one of them one day, it was decided to keep him apart. 

I recently posted a few tables with information about the length and weight of captive Amur tigers in the tiger extinction thread. There's no question young adult males are able to reach 250 kg (552 pounds) every now and then, whereas exceptional males can exceed 300 kg (662 pounds). The heaviest I found was 320 kg (706 pounds). 

Up till recently, it was assumed (referring to the table published in 2005) wild Amur tigers, mainly as a result of the population bottleneck created in the thirties and forties of the previous century, lost quite a bit of size over time. While this could (have) be(en) true, recent information suggests quite a few wild male Amur tigers well exceed 200 kg (442 pounds). One of them was a young adult male captured in northeastern China after he had attacked a farmer and smashed the window of a car. This male, weighed, was 225 kg (496 pounds). Our member 'Betty' told me another male captured in that region, also recently weighed, was 260 kg (574 pounds). 

This is without the tigers living in the northern part of Sichote-Alin (Khabarowski Krai). According to Russian biologists, they can grow to a large size at times. Here's one of them compared to an old male brown bear. Same tree, same distance. The bear is more robust and heavier, but the male tiger almost compares in the departments that matter:

*This image is copyright of its original author

It's all but impossible to get to a decent estimate, but we know adult male brown bears in that region (recent information) average 257,5 kg (almost 568 pounds) and it's also known old male brown bears often exceed 300 kg (662 pounds). 

The photographs I have suggest wild male Amur tigers, although a bit shorter, are more robust than their captive relatives. Captive male Amur tigers (large sample) average 224 kg (495 pounds), whereas their wild relatives (referring to a recent post of our member 'Khan' in this thread) seem to average 206 kg (455 pounds). 

The info I have suggests the difference between an average tiger and an exceptional individual (referring to wild male tigers) could be 30-35% in a healthy population, perhaps even a bit more. Using this information and assuming the population is healthy, it's quite likely exceptional male Amur tigers, like in the recent past, approach or even exceed 600 pounds (272,16 kg). 

The question is if the population really has recovered from the bottleneck in the thirties of the previous century. My guess is more adults and more corridors are needed, but the wild male tiger recently weighed in northeastern China suggests the situation is still improving. Many of us seem to take it for granted, but it's quite an achievement to bring a species very close to extinction back to life. The Russians no doubt did a great job. If the Chinese join hands, chances are the population will continue to grow in the next decades.

Note, that male brown bear in the picture compared to the tiger 'Beast' was described to be a 'giant bear' and 'huge' (and large). Beast is also a big male tiger, the bear looks heavier, but the tiger, even though stood further out from the tree than the bear is, looks taller.

A giant bear and a tiger named Beast from the Anyuisky National Park were caught by a camera trap.

“This big bear has been living here for a long time. You can’t confuse him with anyone because of his height and power. And the tiger, which has already become a celebrity, the Beast, Comparing the photos, among other things, you can understand how close the bear is to the gigantic size of the tiger. Nevertheless, they have been dividing this territory for many years, doing without conflicts. They just flaunt in front of each other, trying to leave their odorous marks on the so-called mail tree, one higher than the other, ”- Alexey Gotvansky.

https://nat-geo.ru/nature/mammals/kto-vy...rritoriyu/

The Russian expert stated: "You can understand how close the bear is to the gigantic size of the tiger", as if he thinks the tiger is the larger animal, even though the bear is a very large mature male.

This photo comparison gives us a good indication that big male tigers and big male brown bears are two very similar sized predators. Tigers seem to be taller and longer, combining athleticism, speed and muscularity, whereas big male brown bears are more heavier and robust in the body.

Its a shame that big male tigers like 'Beast' are not radio-collared. Specialists have already documented a case of this tiger killing a Himalayan black bear and a large male wild boar. If he was radio-collared and monitored this way, (like the tiger 'Dale' was) it would be interesting to see and know how often he hunts bears, which types of bears does he target, find his kill sites and examine his excrements to see what he's eating on a regular basis.

Russian specialists (nowadays) only radio-collar the newly released young tigers and tigresses, but radio-collaring and monitoring a huge, alpha male tiger like 'Beast', who's known for his massive size and ferocious disposition, can bring forth some unwanted surprises for some people regarding tigers and bears and give us some new insight about the relationship between these two large predators. Reply