Range

Asia is the native home of the Amur tiger. The majority of the remaining population is found in Russia and China with a potential population remaining in North Korea.

Habitat

These animals make their home in forests. They are well adapted for life in colder climates.

Amur tigers maintain one of the largest home ranges of any tiger subspecies which is a result of naturally low prey numbers in part of their range.

Reproduction

When a female is receptive to mating she scratches and leaves urine deposits around to alert males. Several males may be attracted to the same female and this can lead to a battle for mating rights.

Males and females will both have multiple partners throughout their life.

An Amur tiger will give birth to a litter of 1 to 5 cubs after a gestation period of 3 to 3.5 months.

By 3 months old the cubs will accompany their mother on hunts. Cubs are weaned off milk by six months old though the mother will assist them with food until 18-20 months old.

Females will give birth in a sheltered spot such as a cave or dense thicket.

Between 1.5 and 3 years old the cubs will become independent.

Females reach sexual maturity by 3 years of age with males maturing by the time they are 4 years old.

A female tends to give birth once every two years.

Behavior

Tigers are one of the few cats to not be afraid of water and will often live near it. They will use water to cool off during warmer periods.

Amur tigers are considered to be a solitary species and outside of mothers and their cubs they do not associate with one another.

Communication with other tigers still occurs potentially though scent marking and leaving scrapes, claw marks or feces for other tigers to find.

They can also create a range of vocalizations including roars, growls, snarls, grunts, moans and a meow.

During the day a human and a tiger have similar eyesight but at night the Amur tigers is around six times as good.

Predators and Threats

In their habitat the Amur tiger represents the apex predator and they have no natural threats.

Adult males may kill cubs which have been fathered by other males if they encounter them.

Amur tigers are highly threatened with fewer than 400 thought to remain in the wild. This does represent a small increases from the 1940s when they were close to extinction with as few as 50 individuals remaining. The outlawing of hunting of this species in 1947 helped to halt this decline.

Humans have contributed to their decline though habitat loss and poaching along with spreading infectious diseases. Logging creates a secondary issue of removing their food source. This can then lead them to seek out domestic livestock which may lead to persecution by ranchers.

Hunting may occur to feed the traditional medicine trade with tiger bones, meat and skin seen as a cure for many ailments.

Their small population size has created an increased risk of inbreeding which may cause a loss of genetic diversity.

Quick facts

The Amur tiger is also known as the Siberian tiger.

During winter the Amur tiger may endure temperatures as low as -34°C (-29.2°F).