Amur Tiger (Sibirian Tiger) (Manchu Tiger)
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| Panthera tigris altaica |
The Siberian tiger is very adaptable and inhabits deciduous as well as coniferous forests, flatlands and low mountain ranges in the region. Most of the peaks in the area of today's distribution area are only 500–800 m above sea level and only a few reach heights of more than 1000 meters. The big cat seems to prefer forests with dense vegetation, presumably to be able to sneak up and hide better. The Siberian tiger usually lives solitary and marks its territory with urine and scratch marks. Using the example of a study in the Sichote-Alin nature reserve, the enormous space requirements of the animals become clear. The ranges of the females were between 200 and 400 square kilometers, those of the males 800 to 1000; these mostly overlapped with those of several females. A tomcat shares its territory with two females on average. Occasionally, the hangover territories can be as much as 3000 square kilometers. Male tigers defend their territory against conspecifics. You concentrate on the important borders to the female territory and places with good prey population. In the best tiger habitats in the Far East, one can find about one tiger per 100 square kilometers.
Siberian tigers are predominantly nocturnal, their life expectancy is between 15 and 20 years.
The Siberian tiger has to eat 9 to 10 kg of meat per day because it needs enormous energy reserves in order to survive in the cold climate. The main prey animals are red deer, wild boar, sika deer and roe deer, in that order. It also preyed on elk, gorals, lynx and occasionally even bears. Sometimes he also kills dogs and domestic animals. In general, prey populations seem to be of much greater importance than certain habitat types.
With its strong body, it can carry very heavy prey over long distances to eat or store it in a quiet place.
The tiger spends a lot of time hunting as only 10 percent of its attacks are successful. Such an attack begins with sneaking up on the prey. When the tiger has come close enough, it jumps with one mighty leap onto the victim from behind to knock its canine teeth into the neck of the victim. He stands firmly with his hind legs on the ground to push the animal down. Larger animals are then killed with a throat bite, smaller prey already die from the injuries in the neck.
In the case of Siberian tigers - with a territory size in male cats of around 1600 km² - a population census is extremely difficult. Until 2005, the counting methodology was based on tracks in the snow, which led to many errors. Individuals cannot be differentiated on the basis of the traces, only between adult males, females and young animals can be differentiated. The first census in the 1930s assumed that 20–30 animals remained in Russia. According to the WWF, an elaborate census in 2004 and 2005 revealed an estimated 431 to 529 specimens, including 334 to 417 adult animals and 97 to 112 young animals. The size of the area and the habitats preferred by the species were also taken into account in this investigation. Other methods such as DNA samples, photo traps, sniffer dogs, and hair traps were increasingly used in later investigations. In 2015, WWF and the Russian government published figures on the current inventory. After that, there were 480-540 Siberian tigers in 2015, including an estimated 100 pups
As the tiger bone supplies in China ran out at the end of the 1980s, demand rose sharply. In addition, the collapse of the Soviet Union led to the collapse of law and order in Russia's Far East. As a result, the hunting pressure on the big cat increased sharply in the early 1990s. At that time, protecting tigers was the task of local politicians, which was the reason that hardly any money was available from far-off Moscow. The rangers fought well-organized poaching gangs with outdated equipment. Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin began campaigning for the Siberian Tiger in 1993, and international funds were also made available. It was then that Operation Amba was founded, an anti-poaching brigade made up of mobile units that track down poachers in the forest or pursue smugglers. As early as August 1994, the amount of bones traded decreased. The press has reported a number of arrests since then. In a large census in 1996, the population had stabilized again at around 430 animals.
In November 2010, an international summit on the protection of threatened tigers, initiated by Vladimir Putin, took place in Saint Petersburg. It was decided "that the 13 countries where the big cats are still living free today want to double the number of tigers by the next" year of the tiger "in 2022. Poaching should be prosecuted, smuggling should be outlawed and controls should be expanded. "
As early as 1975 CITES had banned the international trade in tiger parts. There has been a general trade ban on tiger products since 1987 and in 1993 Taiwan, China, South Korea and Hong Kong were warned against trading in tiger bones. In 1993, China banned domestic tiger bone trade, and in 1995, tiger products were no longer openly sold in Asian markets. Nevertheless, the clandestine trade continued. The Siberian tiger is classified as "Endangered" by the IUCN. Hunting is banned in Russia, China and Korea.
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