Amur is considered the northernmost subspecies of tigers, its other name is Far Eastern. He received this name, because lives near the Amur and Ussuri rivers. He has an elongated, beautiful, flexible body, the main color is orange, but the belly is a delicate white color. The coat is very thick, on the stomach there is a layer of fat (5 cm), which protects it from the cold and the north wind.
In nature, this subspecies of the tiger lives for about fifteen years, more than 20 can live in the zoo. It is active at night.
Each of the tigers prefers to hunt on its territory, and, if there is enough food, does not leave it. He has a huge one - from 300 to 800 km². He preys on small mammals, deer, roe deer, elk, bears, usually one attempt out of 10 is usually successful. He always attacks 1 time, repeatedly - very rarely. A day he needs at least 10 kg of meat.
Here are 10 more interesting facts about the Amur tigers, which cannot but interest you.
10. The first tigers appeared more than two million years ago
To trace the history of tigers, fossils were analyzed. But there are not many of them, they are very fragmented. It was possible to establish that the very first tigers appeared in China. The earliest remains were from 1.66 to 1, 81 million years ago, i.e. then these animals already settled throughout East Asia.
9. Now there are 6 subspecies of tigers, over the past century 3 subspecies have disappeared
In total, there were 9 subspecies of tigers, but 3 of them were destroyed by humans.. These include the Balinese tiger, who once lived in Bali. The last representative of this subspecies was seen in 1937.
The Transcaucasian tiger disappeared in the 1960s; it lived in southern Russia, in Abkhazia and a number of other countries. Yavansky could be found on the island of Java, disappeared in the 1980s, but already in the 1950s there were no more than 25 of them.
8. All species of tigers are listed in the Red Book
The total number of these predators is not so great - only 4 thousand - 6.5 thousand individuals, most of all Bengal tigers, this subspecies makes up 40% of the total number. In Russia, in the twentieth century, tigers decided to be listed in the Red Book, in each country, these animals are included in their conservation documents.
Now hunting for tigers is banned worldwide. This applies to all types. In the nineteenth century there were a lot of Amur tigers, but they began to destroy it, annually destroying 100 animals.
In the 30s of the twentieth century the situation became worse nowhere: about 50 animals remained in the USSR. The reason was not only hunting for this beast, but the constant deforestation in the territory where they live, as well as a decrease in the number of ungulates that it hunts.
In 1947, it was forbidden to hunt the Amur tiger. However, poachers continued to destroy this rare subspecies. In 1986, many animals were also killed, as 3 years earlier, almost all ungulates died because of the plague, and tigers began to go to people in search of food, ate livestock and dogs. In the 90s, interest in tiger bones and skins increased, as Chinese Buyers paid a lot of money for them.
Since 1995, the protection of Amur tigers has been taken under state control, the situation began to improve. Now there are about five hundred and eighty individuals, but much work remains to be done.
7. Mark territory in different ways
Tigers choose a large territory for life. To show other people that the place is taken, they mark it in different ways. They can spray urine on tree trunks. Making a new round, the tiger is constantly updating its tags.
Another way to show who is the boss here is by scratching the trunk of the trees. He tries to leave them as high as possible so that the opponent understands that he is dealing with a huge beast. Tigers loosen snow or earth.
Tags are the primary way these animals communicate. They can leave urinary marks on trunks, bushes, rocks. First, the tiger sniffs them, then turns around, lifts its tail, so that it becomes vertical, and throws out urine in a stream, approximately at a height of 60-125 cm.
6. Saliva has a disinfecting effect.
In the saliva of tigers, there are natural substances that act on wounds, like an antiseptic. Thanks to this, they recover and heal faster. Therefore, these animals often lick themselves and do not die if they suddenly received a minor injury.
5. On average, tigers eat meat 2 times more than lions
A lion can eat up to 30 kg of meat in one sitting, but an adult animal does not need so much food: a female needs 5 kg of meat for survival, and a male 7 kg. With tigers, everything is more complicated, they are more gluttonous. In a year, one tiger can eat 50-70 animals, he eats one deer for several days. At one time, it destroys 30-40 kg of meat, if it is a hungry big male, then 50 kg. But these animals endure a small hunger strike without damage to their health thanks to a layer of fat.
4. Single animals
Adult tigers prefer a solitary lifestyle. Each has its own territory, he will desperately protect it. The personal territory belonging to the male is from sixty to one hundred km², the female has much less - 20 km².
The male can allow the female to be located on some part of his plot. Tigresses from time to time may show aggression towards each other, but if their territories overlap, they usually do not touch the opponent.
In males, everything is different. They will never let another tiger to their site, they will not even be allowed to pass through it. But males get along with tigresses, sometimes even share prey with them.
3. In the reserves of India, workers wear masks on the back of the head, this reduces the likelihood of a tiger attack from the back
The tiger is always in ambush, waiting for its prey at a watering hole or on trails. He sneaks up on his victim, moving with cautious steps, trying to fall to the ground. When he manages to get as close as possible, he overtakes the prey in huge leaps, trying to grab the prey by the throat.
It is believed that if the prey sees the tiger, it does not attack it, it will look for another victim. Knowing about this feature of the tiger, in Indian reserves, workers put on a nape a mask imitating a human face. This helps scare away a tiger that prefers to attack from behind, from an ambush.
2. Tigers living on continents are larger than island
The tiger is considered the heaviest and largest wild cat, but its subspecies differ from each other. The largest tigers are mainland. The length of the male Amur or Bengal tiger is up to two and a half meters, sometimes almost up to 3 meters without a tail. They weigh about 275 kg, but there are individuals and heavier - 300-320 kg. For comparison, the Sumatran tiger, from the island of Sumatra, weighs much less: adult males - 100-130 kg, tigresses - 70-90 kg.
1. In China, tigers are considered animal king
All over the world, the king of animals is a lion, but among the Chinese it is a tiger. For them, this is a sacred animal, a symbol of natural strength, military valor, masculinity. It was believed that he can and should be imitated, admired.
Once, as the Chinese believe, people peacefully coexisted with tigers, moreover, these animals accompanied heroes and gods. Residents of China believed that tigers could defeat demons, so they wore their fangs and claws in a silver frame to scare away evil spirits and stay healthy. At the entrance to many temples, palaces placed paired images of these predators.