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Amur Tiger
Status
The Amur leopard shares its last remaining habitat in Southwest Primorye in the Russian Far East and Northeast China with a subpopulation of approximately 10 Amur, or Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica). The main population of Amur tigers can be found to the Northeast in the Sikhote Alin mountain range (distribution map). In 2005 a full-range count in Russia organized by WCS in collaboration with WWF and all responsible government entities estimated the Amur tiger population in Russia at between 428 and 502 individuals (up from 415 to 476 during the previous count in 1996).
The Amur tiger has known stirring times. At the start of the twentieth century there was near anarchy in southern Russian Far East. The Russian Revolution and creation of the Soviet Union did little to change this situation, and at the start of the Second World War fewer than 50 tigers remained in Russia. At the eleventh hour the situation changed for the better - in 1947 Russia became the first country in the world to ban tiger hunting and grant tigers full protection. Hunting of the main prey species, boar and deer, became restricted by annual quota based on the results of population counts. Poaching of tigers became relatively rare, because there was no market for skins and other tiger products, although hunters on occasion killed their “competitor” when an opportunity presented itself.
Thanks to this relatively favourable situation, the Amur tiger made a unique and remarkable come-back at a time when numbers in all other parts of the tiger’s wide range in Asia were declining dramatically. In the early nineties a poaching epidemic broke out when the Soviet Union collapsed and the borders with neighbouring Asian countries, where tiger body parts are widely used in medicines, opened up. It was estimated that as many as 70 tigers were poached annually in the early nineties, and at that point ALTA partners and WWF both developed anti-poaching projects that helped to reduce poaching and prevented a collapse of the population.
China and Korea
The Amur tiger's range once included former Manchuria in China and the Korean peninsula. The Amur tiger has since become extinct in South Korea, and while its status in North Korea is unknown, it is unlikely that more than a few animals remain, if any. In China, the Amur tiger is dependent on the small source population in the Amur leopard’s range across the border in SW Primorye in Russia. With support from WCS and WWF, in 2001 China established the Hunchun Tiger Leopard Reserve along the border. Large tracts of suitable forest habitat remain in NE China, and with improved forest management and anti-poaching we can expect the Amur tiger and leopard to make a comeback there. There are already indications that tiger and leopard populations in NE China have started to recover.
A male Amur tiger can weigh over 230 kilograms. It is believed to be the largest cat in the world, but up to now scientists that capture tigers for research have failed to catch an Amur tiger that is heavier than the largest male Indian tigers caught for research in Nepal. Research by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) together with Russian scientists under the Siberian Tiger Project has shown that a female Amur tiger has a home range of up to 20 by 20 kilometres, and some males patrol an area as large as 40 by 40 kilometres. (These large home ranges are due to naturally low prey densities in the RFE.) The home range of a male in his prime can include that of several females. As a result of these extensive territories it is clear that a very large area, about the size of Italy, is needed to support a viable population consisting of several hundred animals.
Prey
The Amur tiger needs large prey to survive, and its main prey species are ungulates – wild boar, sika deer and red deer. In the summer tigers may prey on smaller animals such as badgers, and raccoon dogs. Bears comprise about 3% of the tiger’s diet in the Russian Far East. There are rare cases on record of adult brown bears being killed and eaten by Amur tigers. Brown bear cubs are killed more often (indicating that male tigers can drive away the defending mother bear) and the smaller Himalayan black bear also appears on the Amur tiger’s menu.
ALTA Amur tiger conservation
In association with Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik (Reserve) staff, WCS has been studying the ecology of Amur tigers with telemetry techniques in and around the Sikhote Alin reserve since 1992 under the joint Russian-American Siberian Tiger Project, which has provided extensive ecological information needed for conservation planning. WCS also has led the annual Amur tiger population monitoring programme for the last 10 years, designed to serve as an early warning system for declines in the population. Because the vast majority of Amur tiger habitat (>85%) is held as multiple-use lands, many of which are leased by local hunting associations, WCS works with hunting leases to improve capacity to manage ungulates (tigers’ main prey) and protect tigers, as well as to provide economic incentives for tiger conservation. WCS invests significant efforts in supporting Russian graduate students and young scientists specializing in wildlife and conservation biology, and also supports tiger conservation and recovery work in Northeast China, including anti-poaching, education, protected area management and monitoring efforts.
ZSL recently started to support a camera-trap monitoring in the Lazovsky Nature Reserve by biologists Linda Kerley and her husband Misha Borisenko. Read more about this project.
Phoenix implements a large number of projects for the conservation of Amur tigers, its prey and habitat, including tiger festivals, establishment of eco-centres in schools, media projects, anti-poaching teams and teams combating illegal logging. Phoenix and WCS also work jointly to support the ability of the federal government agency “Inspection Tiger” to resolve tiger-human conflict situations.
If you would like to support ALTA's Amur tiger conservation work, then please click on the PayPal button, and select "ALTA Amur tiger conservation" from the programme list on the donation page.
Additional information
Additional information about the Amur tiger can be found on the websites of ALTA members, including Tigris Foundation , 21st Century Tiger , WCS and Phoenix Fund.