The population of the Amur tiger is growing, a majestic feline that lives in the taiga of the Russian Far East.

The Amur tiger or Siberian tiger is a rare subspecies of tiger, a carnivorous mammal of the Felidae family.

Its current population - stable or modestly recovering after a long period of decline - has a few hundred specimens widespread mainly in the Russian Far East and, to a lesser extent, in the border area with Manchuria and North Korea.

The Amur tiger differs from the other tiger subspecies also in the coat, with lighter shades with dark brown stripes instead of black.

The winter coat differs significantly from the summer one both in shape (it is longer, thicker and thicker) and in color (it further brightens or takes on ocher shades) to offer the tiger a better mimicry and effective protection against the cold temperatures of its own natural habitat.

The population of the Amur tiger is increasing.

Despite the common name of "Siberian tiger" which suggests a wide geographical distribution, this subspecies is widespread exclusively in the extreme south-eastern part of Siberia or in the region south-east of the lower course of the Amur river and east of its tributary Ussuri .

The Amur tiger is the largest variety among tigers and is the largest cat on the planet, being able to measure three meters long and weigh about 300 kilos.

Although today they only live in the Far East, they also came to populate the shores of the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus. Amur tigers are now concentrated in the Javarosk and Primorski “krais” (provinces), in the far east of the country and in the Chinese border regions.

Habitat.

The area includes the mountainous territories of Primorsky and central-southern Chabarovsk which constitute, at an administrative level, the south-eastern portion of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia and, geographically, the extensive coastal mountainous massif of Sichote- Alin.

Most of the feline population lives in Sichote-Alin, while much smaller groups have been reported on the Sino-North Korean mountain range of Changbai Shan and on the border between Primorsky and the Chinese province of Jilin.

The habitat of the Siberian tiger includes the boreal forest and the mixed temperate forest which are the two biomes typical of the mountain areas of south-eastern Siberia.

It is a mixed plant ecosystem consisting mainly of coniferous forests (fir, larch, pine, birch) alternating with forests of deciduous plants and wetlands, and characterized by low rainfall and very rigid temperatures with annual averages between 0 ° and 5 ° C, but which can drop far below freezing during the winter.

Monitoring.

The annual demographic monitoring of the Siberian Tiger Project showed a slight increase in the period 1997-1998 followed by a constant decrease for the entire period 1999-2004 detectable both by the decreased density of tracks left by tigers along the displacement routes and by the decrease in the number of young specimens.

Population.

The stability index of the global population, at 2004, settled on the value of -14.5%, highlighting the situation of decline. However, in the same year, there was a turnaround in one of the secondary indicators: the number of areas where births were recorded after seven years of stability had doubled from 5 out of 16 areas to 11 out of 16.

The greatest threat to the tiger is poaching, both from the tiger itself and from the prey it hunts such as wild boars or deer, as well as the increasing amount of land occupied by human activity such as cities or roads.

In order to avoid the problems that tigers can cause to citizens such as attacks on humans or livestock, these cats are actively controlled to prevent them from approaching populated areas.

Before when a tiger attacked cattle, people had the idea of ​​having to kill the predator, but now when the feline attacks cattle, ranchers can ask for help from a program at the "Amur Tiger" center that allows farmers to recover losses.

Sources.

Siberian Tiger Project - WCS Russia
Wikipedia
S.O.S. Regno Animale