Tiger Predation

[Apex Titan]

(05-27-2022, 02:59 AM)Spalea Wrote: @Apex Titan :

I'm not allowed to participate at the "On the edge of extinction" tiger thread (Why ? Only booked to the eminent specialists of the forum, I imagine...), thus I'm answering you here through the John Goodrich's text whose the link was given by @Pckts at #2609. ..

In order to be truly objective you can also quote this part of the text:

" There were numerous reports of tigers preying on both brown bears and Asiatic black bears, but the relationship, it seems, was not that simple; there were also reports of bears killing tigers. As the years progressed and we tracked both bears and tigers, the picture of a complex relationship emerged. The largest brown bears — and we recorded bears with weights up to 800 lbs in the area — would usurp kills from tigers and even track them from kill to kill (meeting those bears when searching for tiger kills is another story for another day!). In one case, tracks in the snow told the story of a tigress and bear reluctantly sharing a red deer the tigress had killed. The tracks suggested some bluffing and blustering on the part of both species, but no actual fighting. Rather, it seemed when the tiger had eaten its fill for the day, the bear was able to scare it off, but when the tigress returned hungry and the bear’s stomach was full, the bear would yield to the cat. Once, my colleague Ivan came home from tracking a tigress and told the story of how it spent the better part of a day trying unsuccessfully to pull a black bear with cubs from her winter den.  "

I just deduct that Amur tiger is the doubtless apex predator of the taiga, being even able to kill a large brown bear which on the other hand are able to steal a tigress's prey. Thus not a 100% completely one-sided fight outcome...

More interesting, I think, is the upheaval among the predators of this biotop provoked by the tiger population recovering its ancient level. That confirming this undeniable tiger's status.

I posted the link to Goodrich's article in my post. Didn't you see it? Anyways ...

The text also states this: "There were numerous reports of tigers preying on both brown bears and Asiatic black bears."  I could have also highlighted that part of the text, but I didn't.

Note, those cases of brown bears killing tigers in disputes are very old, outdated cases from the last century. In fact some posters think that those cases are unreliable and unauthentic because there are no modern day equivalent (over 30 years of scientific field research) to those cases. Which I also find strange, although I wouldn't say its safe to completely dismiss those cases, as they are reported in scientific literature. But scientific research shows, that cases of brown bears killing tigers are extremely rare and has barely happened.

Whats very peculiar is that although Amur tigers are still regularly hunting bears to this day (2022) there's not a single reliable case of a brown bear killing any tiger, despite being often attacked by tigers. This is odd. Why did only some cases occur way back in the last century?, but in the last 30+ years of extensive scientific field research and studies, biologists have never found a single reliable case of a brown bear killing a tiger? Who knows.

What amazed me though about Goodrich's account, is that the tiger, with only 3 canines, was able to swiftly kill a large, similar-sized brown bear in an instant with such ease. Even as a tiger enthusiast myself, I never thought that was possible, especially when you see the sheer mass, robustness and thickness of a large brown bears neck area. Thats incredible. Just goes to show the terrifying power, weaponry and killing skill of a tiger.

Quote:I just deduct that Amur tiger is the doubtless apex predator of the taiga, being even able to kill a large brown bear which on the other hand are able to steal a tigress's prey. Thus not a 100% completely one-sided fight outcome...

I agree.

Quote:More interesting, I think, is the upheaval among the predators of this biotop provoked by the tiger population recovering its ancient level. That confirming this undeniable tiger's status.

Yes, tigers are extremely aggressive and intolerant towards any competition. Bears and wolves suffer in regions that have Amur tigers. Reply