SIBERIAN TIGER: CHARACTERISTICS, HABITAT, REPRODUCTION, BEHAVIOR - BIOLOGY - 2024

The Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is a placental mammal that belongs to the Felidae family. Its body is covered in rusty red or yellow fur. Also, it has black transverse stripes that are spaced apart.

On this coloration, the white color of the internal part of the extremities, on the belly and some areas of the head stands out. The characteristics of the hair vary according to the seasons. For example, in winter, the fur could grow up to 10 centimeters in the head and abdomen region.

Male Panthera tigris altaica, Leipzig zoo. Appaloosa

The Panthera tigris altaica has evolved some physical adaptations, which allow it to withstand the low temperatures of its natural habitat. These include a thick layer of fat and a dense coat.

In times past, this subspecies of Panthera tigris lived in various regions of Korea, eastern Siberia, Mongolia, and northern China. However, it has disappeared from a large part of those areas due to deforestation, poaching and a decrease in the prey it feeds on.

Currently, the Siberian tiger is found mainly in the forests located in northeast China and in the Russian Far East.

Phylogenetic relationship with the Caspian tiger

The Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) is a feline that became extinct in 1970. It lived in Western and Central Asia. According to genetic studies, the Siberian tiger is highly related to the Caspian tiger.

The findings indicate that, until the early 19th century, both subspecies shared a continuous geographical distribution. However, these populations were isolated, possibly due to the fragmentation of their natural habitat.

In the genetic evaluation, where the mitochondrial DNA of both tigers is compared, the specialists concluded that the haplotype of the Caspian tiger differs by a single nucleotide from the monomorphic haplotype of the modern Siberian tiger.

This finding suggests that around 10,000 years ago, the common ancestor of both cats reached Central Asia. In this way, he migrated from eastern China to the Caspian Sea region. Thus, he used the Ganso corridor, a route between the Himalayan plateau and the Gobi desert, located in Mongolia.

Finally, they returned through northern Asia to eastern Russia, establishing the Russian Far East, the natural habitat of the Siberian tiger.

Reintroduction

The implications of these findings are far-reaching, since, due to the evolutionary proximity between these subspecies, the Siberian tiger could offer an appropriate genetic source for the recovery of Panthera tigris virgata.

In relation to this, specialists hypothesize about the reintroduction of Panthera tigris altaica in the range of habitat where it existed in the Caspian tiger.

The Amu-Darya Delta was suggested by experts as a potential place to develop the project. However, the feasibility study reveals that this region does not currently meet the conditions for the successful development of the feline.

This is because a viable population of 100 tigers requires at least 5000 km2 of contiguous, prey-rich habitat for food. Such habitat is not available in the Delta.

Another place of reintroduction in Kazakhstan is the Ili River Delta, located south of Lake Balkhash. Until 1948, this region was a refuge for the extinct Caspian tiger. In addition, in the area there are large populations of wild boar, which can be an important base in the diet of the feline.

Therefore, the Ili delta could be considered a suitable geographic space to carry out the reintroduction project.

characteristics

Panthera tigris altaica, Louisville Zoo. Ltshears

Body

The Amur tiger, as this species is also known, has a strong and muscular body. The hind limbs are slightly longer than the forelimbs, allowing him to jump with great force. In a single jump, it could cover a distance of up to 10 meters.

In relation to the front limbs, they are formed by a bone structure that allows it to support a large amount of muscle tissue. This combination of both body structures allows the feline to grab and hold the prey, even when moving at high speeds.

The clavicle of this subspecies is small, compared to the dimensions of the skeleton. This makes it easier for you to move around using long strides.

Another of the bony characteristics that give the Siberian tiger flexibility in its movements is its spine. This has a total of 30 vertebrae: 7 cervical, 7 lumbar, 13 thoracic and 3 sacral.

T

According to the research carried out, the body dimensions of Panthera tigris altaica have varied over time. In 2005, the results of comparative analyzes between contemporary and historical data were published, in relation to the size and weight of this species.

These point out that, until the first half of the 20th century, modern Siberian tigers were less heavy than those that lived in 1970.

On average, contemporary males can weigh an average of 176.4 kilograms, while the female weighs 117.9 kilograms. With regard to historical species, the male used to weigh 215.3 kilograms and the female 137.5 kilograms.

The reduction in body weight could be related to the decrease in the abundance of prey, which has a direct impact on the feeding of the feline.

Regarding the length, considering the measurements of the head and the body, the average in the male is 195 centimeters and in the female it can vary from 167 to 182 centimeters. The tail in both sexes is long, in the male it measures 99 centimeters and in the female 91 centimeters.

Skull

S. Taheri

The skull of the Siberian tiger is large, measuring between 331 and 383 millimeters. The female's is smaller and lighter than the male's. The jaw and teeth region is especially strengthened.

In the adult, the sagittal crest, in the middle region, measures approximately 27 millimeters and at the back 46 millimeters. The occipital crest is quite high, compared to that of the Bengal tigers.

Jaw and teeth

The jaws cannot move from side to side, they only move up and down, which increases the force of the downward grip. This feline has 30 teeth, far fewer than other mammals. However, these are specialized to hold, hunt and tear prey.

Canine teeth can measure up to 10 centimeters, much longer than those of other wild cats. The large size of these allows the tiger to kill its prey almost effectively and quickly, greatly reducing the energy that the animal invests when hunting.

In relation to the posterior or carnassial teeth, they measure more than 26 millimeters. Its function is to cut meat and bones.

Fur

The coloration of this subspecies is rusty reddish or rusty yellow, with narrow transverse stripes, which are located separately. In contrast, the areas of the belly, chest and the inner area of ​​the extremities are white.

The coat varies according to the seasons, both in color and in its thickness. In addition, some variations could occur between populations and even individually. The differences may be in the length of the hair and the color of the dark stripes, which are usually dark brown instead of black.

In the summer, the coat is thick, while in winter the coat becomes denser, longer, and silky. Thus, it is more abundant in the trunk region and longer on the head, almost completely covering the animal's ears.

As for color, in winter it is usually less bright than in summer. Because the winter coat is longer, the stripes appear wider, with less defined contours.

Taxonomy

-Animal Kingdom.

-Subreino: Bilateria.

-Filum: Cordate.

-Subfilum: Vertebrate.

-Superclass: Tetrapoda.

-Class: Mammal.

-Subclass: Theria.

-Infraclass: Eutheria.

-Order: Carnivora.

-Suborder: Feliformia.

-Family: Felidae.

-Subfamily: Pantherinae.

-Gender: Panthera.

-Species: Panthera tigris.

-Subspecies: Panthera tigris altaica.

Habitat and distribution

Distribution Panthera tigris altaica

- Distribution

The Siberian tiger inhabits the Russian Far East and northeast China. Also, it has been sighted in North Korea. Previously it lived was distributed in great part of Korea, in the Eastern region of Siberia, to the north of China and to the east of Mongolia.

At present, the geographical range in the Russian Far East covers almost 1,000 kilometers, along the entire length of Primorsky Krai, southeast of the Amur River and south of Khabarovsk Krai.

Among its main habitats are the Sikhote-Alin mountains and the province of Primorye, although some have a preference for the mountain system of Eastern Manchuria.

Furthermore, the Panthera tigris altaica is found in the Great Xing'an Mountain Range, which in several places crosses Russia from China. This mountain range is an area where two important bioregions merge: the deciduous-coniferous complex of East Asia and the Taiga.

The resulting ecosystem is a mosaic forest, with very diverse elevations and topographies. In both geographic regions, the peaks are generally 500 to 800 meters above sea level.

China

In relation to the populations in China, they depend on the movement of the Siberian tigers that cross the border with Russia.

It currently lives in two regions of China, the Changbaishan Mountains and the eastern Wanda Mountains, where a cub was found in 2010, evidencing the presence of at least one female in the reproductive stage.

- Habitat

The habitat of this subspecies includes taigas, mountains and a great diversity of forests, from those of broadleaf to those of conifers, in eastern Asia. In these regions the prey that constitute the diet of this feline abound.

The fauna of the region is a mix between boreal and Asian animal life. Wild boar, Manchurian wapiti, Sika deer and Siberian roe deer are abundant in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains.

Amur elk and Siberian musk deer, which are an important part of the Siberian tiger diet, live in the coniferous forests near the central Sikhote-Alin mountains.

The regions that are covered with snow during the winter are not the most suitable for this subspecies to develop. This is due to the fact that their diet is profoundly affected by the scarcity of ungulates, as a consequence of climatic variation.

State of conservation

I, Babirusa

Currently, the Siberian tiger is at risk of going extinct. Historically, their populations have been exposed to various threats, mainly derived from human activities. One of the worst times for this feline was in the 1930s, as the number of these was drastically reduced.

In 1990, the IUCN classified Panthera tigris altaica critically endangered. However, because the risks to which it has been exposed are being controlled, there is a slight growth in its population.

- Threats

One of the factors that affect the population decline of this subspecies is deforestation and fragmentation of the ecosystems where it lives. However, the main threat in the short term is the decline in the ungulate prey that make up the diet of the Siberian tiger.

Poaching of wild boar and deer, among other species of animals, significantly reduces food sources. This causes the Siberian tiger to attack domestic livestock, causing man to kill the feline in defense of his breeding animals.

Likewise, prey depletion is particularly important for Amur tigers that live in the Russian Far East. This is because in that region there are the lowest prey densities of all the areas where it is distributed in feline.

Furthermore, the scarcity of ungulate prey can decrease the proportion of reproductively active females, delaying the age of first mating and thus reducing litter size. These factors affect the demographic viability of the various populations of the Siberian tiger.

Also, man hunts this feline with the intention of selling some organs of his body in the market, which are used in traditional medicine.

- Actions

The Panthera tigris altaica is included in Appendix I of CITES, for which its commercialization at the international level is prohibited. In this sense, all the states that make up the area where this feline lives, together with the nations where there are consumer markets, have prohibited its internal trade.

In 2010, the governments of China and Russia signed an agreement, in which both parties committed to reinforce and improve protected areas, located on the borders of the countries.

The Phoenix Fund and the Society for the Conservation of Wildlife of Russia, in cooperation with the Zoological Society of London, started a joint project.

Its purpose is to improve protection actions for the Siberian tiger in some protected areas. These are Sikhote Alin Nature Reserve, Zov Tigra National Park and Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve.

Siberian Tiger Project

The Siberian Tiger Project, created in 1992, studies and collects data on this subspecies, in order to create conservation plans. For this, they equip the tigers with radio collars, allowing to study their social structure, feeding habits, land use and mortality patterns.

This project has given great results, since, among other aspects, it has supported the approach to the tiger-human conflicts. This has been accomplished thanks to the timely intervention of the Tigers Response team.

Reproduction

The female reaches sexual maturity at approximately 4 years of age and the male between 5 and 6 years. Mating can occur at any time of the year, however, according to research they are more frequent from March to May.

To indicate to the male that she is receptive to mate, the female usually marks trees with scratches and leaves urine deposits, with which she marks the territory.

Once the couple is formed, they begin the courtship ritual. In this one, they both move in circles and growl. Also, they each smell the other's body, lick it and rub each other. Later, they can separate, and when approaching again, the female caresses the male with her snout.

The couple is united for 5 or 6 days, although according to studies the highest peak of fertility lasts only three days. Ovulation is induced by mating, so they bond repeatedly to increase the chance of conception.

During copulation, the male stands on top of the female and holds her by the neck, immobilizing her with his teeth. In the same reproductive stage, the male can join several females.

Breeding

Siberian Tiger. Source: Davepape

As for the gestation period, it lasts between 101 and 108 days. For the delivery, the female looks for a safe place, where the young are protected. Thus, the cubs can be born in a cave or in a den, which is hidden by abundant vegetation.

Usually two to four cubs are born in each litter, although exceptionally six may be born. Newborns have their eyes closed, so during the first weeks of life they depend exclusively on the mother.

The male is not involved in any kind of parental care. The female suckles the cubs for 3 to 6 months and when they start dating her, she teaches them to hunt.

Almost always, one of the young, the strongest and largest, dominates the litter. The mother makes sure to feed him, thus ensuring his survival. The cubs play at fighting. In this way, they acquire the skills and abilities they will need to defend themselves, when they are completely independent.

Between 2 or 3 years, young people are mature to live alone. Thus, females tend to settle in territories close to that of the mother, while males do so further away.

Feeding

The Panthera tigris altaica is a carnivorous animal. Musk deer, wild pigs, Manchurian wapitis, wild boar, elk and Siberian roe deer are in their diet. He also eats Sika deer and the long-tailed goral. It could even hunt the brown bear and the Asiatic black bear.

Likewise, it can capture smaller prey, such as pikas, rabbits, hares, some birds and salmon. According to studies carried out, the distribution of the Siberian tiger could be related to the habitat of the animals on which it feeds.

According to research, the adult male should consume a minimum of 5.2 kilograms of food per day, while the non-reproductive adult female needs about 3.9 kilograms per day for subsistence. Furthermore, the results indicate that the Amur tiger kills within 5 to 7 days.

In this sense, experts point out that the frequency between hunting and food consumption could vary according to the seasons. In the summer, adults kill every 7.4 days, consuming an average of 7.89 kilograms daily. During winter, the prey are larger, hunting them every 5.7 days. The daily consumption is around 10.3 kilograms.

Hunting techniques

This predator could travel long distances at night, in search of food. The striped coat allows the Siberian tiger to blend in with the environment.

This favors the one that goes unnoticed by its predators, but also facilitates the capture of its prey. Thus, it can sneak up on it and attack surprisingly from the side or from behind, giving it a lethal bite on the neck. If it fails, the Siberian tiger usually does not chase its prey, but waits patiently for another.

Also, the Panthera tigris altaica can stay crouched among the grasses, and thus, remain hidden until the animal approaches. At that moment he pounces on it and attacks him.

Behavior

The Siberian tiger is a territorial and solitary animal. To delimit his area, he usually marks the rocks and trees that are in it. For this, it can scrape the ground with its powerful claws or tear off pieces of bark, standing up on its two hind legs and ripping the tree with its front legs.

This feline spends most of its time looking for its food, while taking advantage of patrolling the territory. If there are abundant prey within the limits of the range where it lives, it does not leave the territory. Habitat dimensions may vary depending on the age and sex of the feline. Thus, a female with cubs uses a smaller hunting area than a tiger alone.

To communicate, this subspecies usually produces several sounds. Among these is the long-distance call, which is identified as an intense meow, moan, or territorial roar. The function of such vocalization has a social nature, since it is used by group members repeatedly and for long periods of time.

References

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