The Amur tiger is the largest of all cats. It is easily recognized with the tawny coloured fur covered with vertical black stripes on its back and flanks. It is the only wild cat with a striped fur instead of a spotted one. The stripes will fragment the tiger’s silhouette, which makes it very difficult to spot in the long grassy environment of its habitat. The Amur tiger, known as the Siberian Tiger, does not have Siberian roots but only the name since it has rarely been living in Siberia; the boarder of its habitat is the long Amur river in the Russian Federation. This large cat is particularly well adapted to catch and kill large preys. Tigers are fast and can jump high and in long strides. They can reach a speed of up to 50 km/h. The senses are well developed along with the powerful front legs and strong jaws which do not leave much chance to wild boars, deers and other large mammals which it feeds on. Its night vision is excellent. A male can weigh from 180 to 360 kg (396 to 792 lbs) and a female from 100 to 167 kg (220 to 367 lbs). The body length can measure up to 1,4 to 1,8 meter long (4.5 to 5.9 feet), without the tail. The distribution includes northern China, northern Korea and the extreme south western part of Russia. The Amur tiger is found in the tropical and temperate forests, on mountain slopes or in riverside valleys. This big cat is nocturnal and usually solitary. A female gives birth to two to five young at a time after a gestation period of about 3 ½ months. An adult has no natural predators. The young can be the prey to brown bears and male Amur tigers. An individual can live about 15 years in nature. The main threats for the survival of the species are the massive habitat destruction as well as poaching. The Amur tiger is an endangered species in appendix I of CITES, there are about 400 individuals in nature (1998).
Amur Tiger Panthera tigris altaica
