This tiger is one of three that live at Banham Zoo in Norfolk.
The Amur tiger, also commonly known as the Siberian tger, is the world's largest living cat. It got its name like other tigers from the places it used to roam, which 100 years ago, was an expansive range across Siberia, the Russian far east, northeast China and Korea. Today, 95% of the world’s last Siberian tigers are found in far eastern Russia where the Amur river forms a border with China. Thus, they are now more commonly known as the Amur tiger. The most recent IUCN Red List assessment published in 2022, estimated the Russian population at 265 to 486 with a small resident population of Amur tigers, estimated at over 20 individuals, clinging to survival today in north-east China and possibly North Korea.
Like their close relative, the now extinct Caspian tiger, the Amur tiger was relentlessly persecuted in the first half of the 1900's. By the 1940's, after ‘pest eradication’ by the Russian army, the tiger was truly at the edge of extinction with fewer than 50 individuals remaining in the wild. This was due to decades of almost continual political instability within the Soviet Union. After WW2, in 1974, Russia became the first country to ban tiger hunting and offered tigers full protection. Hunting of their 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.
Amur tigers are one of the larger tiger subspecies with males reaching a total length of more than 11 ft. 6 in. (3.5 m). The average weight for males is 350 to 420 lb. (160 to 190 kg), while females are smaller, at 240 to 285 lb. (110 to 130 kg). Males, females and cubs can be distinguished by their tracks, a male’s paw pad measures 4.1 to 5.7 in. (105 to 145 mm) across, a female’s 3.35 to 3.75 in. (85 to 95 mm), and a cub's from 2.15 to 3.95 in. (55 to 100 mm). A male cub, after one year, usually has a paw measurement already larger than that of its mothers.
Amur tiger coat colour is a lighter orange than other tiger subspecies and becomes even more so in winter. Their coat is longer and thicker than that of other tigers because of the colder climate and they have a thick mane around the neck and extra fur on their paws, which protects them against the cold.
The Amur tiger’s preferred prey is the larger hoofed species including the red deer, Siberian musk deer, Siberian roe deer, long-tailed goral, Manchurian sika deer, Manchurian wapiti and even moose. If they are hungry or their larger prey has been depleted, they will feed on smaller animals including brown bear cubs and Asian bears, rabbits, pikas, badgers and even salmon. Wild boars are abundant and so these are a common prey species of the Amur tiger today. Results of a 3 year study on Amur tigers from 2009 to 2012 showed that in summer they consume a daily average of 17.4 lb. (7.89 kg) and in winter they consume a daily average of 23 lb. (10.2 kg).
Amur tigers' mate at any time of the year. Gestation lasts from 3 to 3½ months and a litter size is normally 2 or 4 cubs but there can be as many as six. The cubs are born blind in a sheltered den and are left alone when the female leaves to hunt for food. Cubs are divided equally between males and females at birth, however, by adulthood there are usually two to four females for every male. In the wild, the tiger can live between 10 and 15 years, but in captivity, they live nearer to 20 years old.
The Amur tiger, like all tigers around the world, are threatened by habitat loss, depletion of their prey populations, and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade. Amur tigers are poached for their body parts and skins, with their bones used for 'tiger wine' and as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicines.
The conservation status of the Amur tiger is 'Endangered'.
