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

[Apex Titan]

Amur tiger hunts and kills a large adult male brown bear, estimated to weigh no less than 270 - 300 kg.

In his scientific paper 'Search of Prey and Tactic of Hunting of the Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)' zoologist Vitaly Zaitsev reports a confirmed account reported by the Chief foresters L.V. Kirsta and A.D. Saiko who observed a tiger persistently hunting down, chasing, and killing a male brown bear for over a distance of 500 meters.

This account also confirms that Amur tigers have the stamina and endurance to chase a large male brown bear for over 500 meters, and then kill it. 

When I initially found and posted this account some years ago, I assumed that the male brown bear killed by the tiger was most likely a mature adult male brown bear (200 - 300+kg) and possibly a large male. Judging by the fact that the male brown bear was able to fight off the tiger's initial attack. Turns out, I was right.

Here's the account:

"In winter 1982, the reserve's chief foresters, L.V. Kirtsa and A.D. Saiko observed a tiger chasing a male brown bear for over 500 meters. Attacking the bear as it fled along the valley of the watershed terrace, and without killing it, the tiger would run to intercept the bear hundreds of meters away, from where it would make a new attack from ambush, trying to bite its neck. The tiger eventually managed to kill the male bear."

https://www.researchgate.net/publication...is_altaica

A person named "Beiremulen Handakuter" contacted the author / zoologist Vitaly Zaitsev, and asked him for specific details about the size and condition of the male brown bear hunted down and killed by the tiger, which was observed and reported by two very experienced chief foresters.

The tiger killed this large adult male brown bear in the beginning of winter, when many (well-fed) brown bears are still roaming the taiga and accumulating fat for winter hibernation. As I proved in my previous posts, during the first snow-falls of early winter, many bears still roam the forest up to December 15. 

Vitaly Zaitsev confirmed the bear wasn't a "Schatun" (connecting-rod) brown bear. In this particular case, the tiger hunted and killed a large, well-fed adult male brown bear. The killed bear was found by the two chief foresters A.D. Saiko and L.V. Kirsta. Saiko, an experienced hunter, estimated the killed male brown bear to weigh no less than 270 - 300 kg! Saiko also noted that the bear was not a weakened, skinny bear, but was a large male brown bear of considerable weight.

Zoologist Vitaly Zaitsev wrote:

This is not a bear who does not hibernate (weakened by hunger, but its exact condition is not known; according to A.D. Saiko, it is not skinny). Killed by a tiger at the beginning of winter in the Kolumbeyskoye forestry of the Zapovednik on the western macroslope of the Sikhote-Alin ridge. At this time, the bears of the reserve usually hibernate. There are many brown bears in those places. 

Their route (Saiko and Kirsta) was long, for those places at least a week. Of course, they did not measure the weight of the bear. The reserve's security inspector, A.D. Saiko is also an experienced hunter. It is unlikely that he could have made a significant mistake in determining the bear's size "by eye". The weight of this bear, according to his estimate, reached 270 - 300 kg, no less. This is less than the largest sizes of Ussuri brown bears (up to 400 kg). But not small.

Best regards 

Vitaly Z.

*This image is copyright of its original author

In addition, the famous Russian biologist, scientist & ecologist, S.P. Kucherenko (who had over 50 years of field experience studying tigers and bears in the Ussuri taiga) has personally found the carcasses of large brown bears, weighing 200 - 300 kg, killed and eaten by tigers in multiple cases:

Kucherenko:

"Our numerous observations have also shown that an adult tiger eats a piglet of average fatness (about 30 kilograms) or half a two-year-old sow in one sitting. A tiger usually eats a red deer or a wild boar weighing 150-200 kilograms in a week. The animal (tiger) lives for 8-10 days near a large bear (weighing 200-300 kg) that has been crushed."

"Of all animals, only a large brown bear can overcome it. And even then, the victims are usually young, not yet strong tigers or tiger cubs. Even a large bear will not take an adult tiger. On the contrary, I have come across large bears killed and eaten by a tiger. An average tiger is always stronger than an average bear."

https://litresp.ru/chitat/ru/%D0%9A/kuch...bya-doma/6

Russian zoologist N.V. Rakov reported:

"In December 1959, a tiger killed a large brown bear on the Svetloye River, and lived near it for about 10 days until it was eaten, after which it went south along the sea coast (A.E. Karavanov)."

https://amur-tiger.ru/uploads/files/domy...075454.pdf

And recently, in 2022, a medium-sized male tiger named "Odyr" hunted, killed in a fight, and ate a large adult male brown bear with a palm callus width of 18 cm. The killed bear was specifically noted to be of impressive size. All this was determined and confirmed by a team of seasoned wildlife rangers, the Chief forest inspector Yuri Kya and his team.

Yuri Kya was even able to determine where the fight began (near the forest Index sign), which takes vast experience:

After the tiger Odyr killed the large male brown bear, later, Odyr was spotted by Yuri Kya and his team, feeding on the bear carcass:

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://www.province.ru/habarovsk/ekolog...logov.html


Its an indisputable fact that Amur tigers, particularly experienced males, hunt and kill mature adult male brown bears. What's interesting, is that in most cases, tigers killed large male brown bears. We even have very recent footage (2024) captured by biologist, Feng Limin's drone camera of a young adult tigress pursuing a much larger adult male brown bear in Northeast China. And in that region, bears make up 10 percent of the tigers' diet year round. (Feng Limin, 2025).

The accounts also confirm that even medium-sized male tigers can successfully hunt, fight, and kill a significantly larger (and heavier) adult male brown bear.

As far as cases in which the gender of the killed adult brown bear was specified, I've actually seen more cases of tigers killing and eating adult male brown bears than cases of tigers killing adult female brown bears! Russian biologist E.N. Smirnov also followed the fresh tracks of a tiger that was steadfastly hunting down a large brown bear. Seasoned biologists V.G. Yudin and Yuri Dunishenko also reported that 'large bears' are hunted and killed by tigers. 

In the hunting grounds of a tiger, biologist Matyushkin found the carcass of an adult brown bear killed and eaten by a tiger. Unfortunately, he never specified the killed bear's gender, but its likely the bear could have been an adult male.

It seems that some Amur tigers will even deliberately target non-hibernating adult male brown bears in early winter also, knowing that bears are well-fed and have gained weight. As Aramilev noted, tigers especially like to eat bears that have gained weight. This is a 'delicious' food for tigers.

These cases of tigers hunting and killing large male brown bears just further confirm how limited and incomplete the data was published by the Siberian Tiger Project on Amur tiger-bear relations. Just like their weight samples and data, which are outdated, and also very limited and inconclusive. Larger male tigers are being seen, tracked and recorded in recent years, particularly in the Khabarovsk Krai and Northeast China, than what the STP biologists saw, tracked, or recorded in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve in the Primorye region many years ago.

In the Khabarovsk Krai and Northeast China, large male tigers with heel widths of 13 - 14 cm's, and weights up to 225 - 270 kg have been recorded in recent years.

After reviewing reliable (and recent) cases and factual information reported by various biologists, zoologists, rangers, and experienced hunters from the 20th - 21st centuries, we now have a much clearer picture, and that is Amur tigers indeed hunt and kill large adult male brown bears. This is an undeniable and established fact. And its no surprise that such a seasoned biologist and major expert like Alexander Batalov is very adamant and certain that the male tiger 'Ochkarik' killed and completely devoured the huge male brown bear (most likely 350 - 420 kg) 'Chlamyda'. Reply