Powerful and graceful Amur tigers are very interesting animals. Unfortunately, human activity has brought them to the brink of extinction, and now, albeit belatedly, all sorts of measures are being taken to save their population. These amazing felines live mainly in protected areas where they are not threatened by humans.
Interesting facts about amur tigers
- Among all types of tigers, it is the Amur tiger that is the most northern. He is not afraid of cold weather, and scientists propose to resettle them in the reserves of Yakutia.
- Other names for the Amur tiger are Ussuri and Siberian.
- Currently, Amur tigers live only in the Russian Far East and China, but scientists intend to start breeding them in Kazakhstan.
- The only land animal that can run faster than these tigers is the cheetah. And Amur tigers can reach speeds of 80 km/h over short distances.
- The coat of the Amur tiger is thicker and denser than that of its counterparts living in warm climates (interesting facts about tigers).
- The total number of Amur tigers living in the wild is now a little over 500 individuals. They are rapidly dying out due to the active deforestation of the Ussuri taiga, which is their natural habitat.
- Superior to all other members of the cat family, Amur tigers are the largest cats on Earth, not counting hybrids like ligers.
- The length of the tail of the Amur tiger can reach 1,1 meters, and sometimes more.
- The Amur tiger is included in the international Red Book.
- He is very strong. There is documented evidence of how the Amur tiger dragged a huge horse carcass for half a kilometer to eat in a calm environment.
- Male Amur tigers, in the process of hunting and protecting their territory, travel twice as far as females every day.
- These animals lead a solitary lifestyle. Little tiger cubs live with their mother, but when they grow up, they also leave.
- Amur tigers are the most silent among all big cats. They mostly cast their voice only during the mating season.
- Traditional Chinese medicine made its negative contribution to the extermination of the Amur tigers, according to which tinctures and potions based on body parts of these animals help against a variety of diseases. As a result, Amur tigers were practically exterminated in China even earlier than in Russia (interesting facts about China).
- The skin of the Amur tiger can have up to a hundred stripes.
- Being a skilled hunter, the Amur the tiger prefers to attack the prey with a swift ambush. Moreover, sometimes these big cats even hunt Himalayan bears comparable in size to them.
- An adult Ussuri tiger eats 20-25 kg of meat per day, but, having eaten for the future, it can gobble up three times more.
- Most of their lives they are engaged in hunting, since, according to observations, only about 10% of tiger attacks are successful. In other cases, the prey manages to escape.
- Amur tigers never kill more prey than they are able to eat.
- Little tiger cubs are raised exclusively by females, because the male leaves after a short meeting in the mating a season that rarely lasts longer than two or three days.
- Amur tiger cubs begin to hunt independently at the age of one.
- The average weight of an adult Amur tiger is about 200 kg. There were also individuals weighing 400 kg, and they were just large, not fat – you won’t get particularly fat in the wild.
- These graceful creatures are capable of jumping 6-7 meters in length.
- Amur tigers attack people less often than any other.
- In China, poachers face the death penalty for killing the Amur tiger, as for killing a person.
- In the wild, it has no natural enemies other than humans.