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

[peter]

(11-01-2017, 06:55 AM)Wolverine Wrote:

(10-31-2017, 11:07 PM)peter Wrote: THE ACTORS FROM THE ARTICLE IN POST 1,308

This is Amur tigress 'Rashel', a mother of four cubs -

*This image is copyright of its original author

And this is a very large male brown bear following 'Rashel' and displacing her when she killed for her cubs -

*This image is copyright of its original author

Peter, knowing that the average weight of female Amur tigress is 120 kg, and if we guess that Rashel is a an average female what is your assessment about the body weight of the big guy?
Thank you for posting this images because I don't have computer skills to load images in the forum.

For now what we know about Rashel is that she got her name from one lady, a foreign tourist visited the aria. That's lady name was also "Rashel".
Also we know that "last year she had four cubs. Despite the fact that her cubs are already not small and two of them are already separated from the tigress this good mother still help to another two cubs with feeding. They doesn't go too far away from the mother and approach imidiately when she call them".
That's only information till now about Rashel.

To follow the fate and live of Amur tiger is much harder than doing the same with tigers in India. Russian Ussuriland is vast wilderness, scarcely populated, there are almost no roads and trails there, tiger's territories are 20 times larger than territory of tropical tigers. Some arias outside national parks and reserves could be dangerous for lonely biologist to enter not only because of harsh climate, remoteness and big carnivores but because there hide some outlawed criminals, lonely people with guns and weird suspisiuos mind called "shatuns". In general, Ussuriland is not a joke, its a very severe, harsh land. In same time its a unique, grandiouse ecosystem.

According to reliable sources, an average adult male brown bear in the Russian Far East (Ursus arctos lasiotus) is 260-270 kg. (574-596 pounds). A large male easily exceeds 300 kg. (662 pounds). The male on the photograph seems to be of exceptional size. My guess is he could be close to 800 pounds (362,88 kg.). 

As to Ussuriland. I agree it's a unique, vast and very wild region with few people. I know a bit about remote regions and people who live there. Not a few of them prefer isolation for good reasons. Those who like to be on their own often live by their own rules. In a way, they compare to the large carnivores also making their home in the forests. 

Well over a century ago, Baikov wrote about the rules of the taiga. Not murder, but theft was considered the worst crime. Offenders were buried alive or tied to trees for tigers. No wonder man-eaters were not uncommon in Manchuria and the northern part of Korea back then. 

Tough country, tough people. And tough measures for those who broke rules. But it had no effect. Dersu was killed by people out for his skins and so were many others. Lev Kaplanov, a great biologist who rang the bell for Amur tigers, died well before his time. They think poachers could have been involved, but nobody was ever arrested. 

In Russia, conservation is taken very seriously. In spite of the focus of politicians on conservation, the measures taken and the quality of the rangers, about 20 Amur tigers are poached every year. Those who kill for skins also often poach. Although the laws regarding poaching often prove to be inadequate, rangers take their job seriously. Many have been arrested and quite many incidents of poaching reach the press. As a result, rangers have to watch their back all the time. Same for a biologist entering unknown territory on his own.

In spite of all that, I would like to visit Ussuriland. I know tourism is being developed, but I don't care that much about tours. My aim is good information about Ussuriland and the large carnivores it has. I want to meet people in the know. Specialists. Another goal is to measure skulls in the natural history museums of Chabarowsk and Vladivostok. I want to talk to people who can open a few doors. If you have ideas, please let me know. Reply