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The Vanishing Amur(Siberian) Tiger
The Amur(Siberian ) Tiger
The Amur(Siberian Tiger) (Panthera tigris altaica) ,
lives in the Amur region which covers Northeast China, Easter Russia and parts of North Korea. this area is characterised by mountainous areas and coniferous forests and here the climate changes dramatically between summer and winter.n the summer the temperatures can vary from mild to very hot, but winter is bitterly cold always.
These tigers as like others are a solitary animal and roam large territories though it is known that males will wander into a female territory.
They make dens or lairs to live in or find a convenient cave. It is here that a female will give birth to her litter of 3-4 kittens after a gestation period of 3-3.5 months.
In size the Amur Tiger is the biggest of all the big cats, that includes the Lion. They can grow to lengths of 6-9 ft and one animal was recorded as reaching 11 ft. they weigh in at adulthood at anything from 300-600 pounds, the female of the species is the lighter and smaller.
Their coats are thicker than their southern Asian cousins and these tigers also have a thick layer of fat which helps combat the extreme cold in winter. Though they are striped they have less than other tigers, but can also be distinguished by extra thick fur around their necks. Their colouring is a red-orange and this along with their stripes helps with camouflaging them when stalking and hunting their prey.
They are of course a carnivore and hunt mainly Elk, Deer and Wild Boar, but will sometimes go for smaller animals and fish. their colouring really helps when hunting because many of their prey such as Elk and Deer are red-green colour-blind and cannot see orange at all.
Although they can be difficult to distinguish from other tigers it is the fact that they do have an extra "ruff" of fur around their necks and fewer stripes that distinguishes them. They also have very large feet which have fur underneath to keep their feet warm against the freezing winter conditions.
Their numbers at the present time are low in the wild, maybe only 500, although great efforts by conservationists and regulatory bodies have been put in place and hope is growing that they will recover from being critically endangered. However as regulations for their protection grows so does the price on their heads!!
Amur Leopard
- Home - Amur Leopard Conservation
This takes you to another of the endangered big cats in the Amur region. But again hope is growing.