The Siberian (Amur) Tiger Panthera tigris altaica

The Population Dynamics of a Species at Risk

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Amur tigers are a success story in the making only if we can protect them from poaching and ensure their forest homes remain.”

Dr. Sybille Klenzendorf    Managing Director, Species Conservation Program

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Conservation Biology

The conservation of Siberian tigers officially started in 1947, when Russia officially protected the species, making it illegal to poach and hunt them.

Since then, many more efforts have been made, such as channeling funds to appropriate agencies to control widespread poaching of tigers and other wildlife, collaborate with Russian scientists, conservationists, and local stakeholders in preparing and implementing habitat conservation plans and developing a framework for a comprehensive wildlife and resource management plan for the Amur region, and supporting educational programmes aimed at enhancing awareness of environmental and conservation issues in local communities.

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Did you know?

Tigers can leap distances of over 6m, and jump up to 5m vertically. Their muscular legs are so powerful that they can remain standing even when dead.

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Poaching for parts to sell on the black market is one of the largest threats posed by humans on the Siberian tiger population.

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Human Influence

Amur tigers were once found throughout the Russian Far East, northern China, and the Korean peninsula. By the 1940s, hunting had driven the Amur tiger to the brink of extinction, with no more than 40 individuals remaining in the wild. The subspecies was saved when Russia became the first country in the world to grant the tiger full protection. In other words, humans are the cause of the the Siberian tiger’s “endangered” status, and so it is up to humans to help the tiger populations recover.

Human influence on tiger populations is mainly caused by habitat loss and fragmentation, and illegal poaching and hunting.

Habitat loss is a large concern due to Siberian tiger forests being at risk from logging, conversion to agriculture, urban expansion, road construction, mining, fires, and inadequate law enforcement when regulating all of the aforementioned. Illegal logging is widespread throughout the Russian Far East, which has major impacts because Korean pine and Mongolian oak provide critical food for the tiger’s prey during the snow season. When these trees are illegally logged, the prey populations decrease and negatively impact tigers. 

The construction of roads crisscrossing tiger habitats causes their fragmentation, which often results in the isolation of a small group of tigers, which ends up meaning to little genetic diversity in an area for them to successfully reproduce. This also increases the chances of encounters with humans, such as allowing greater access for poachers, increasing tiger mortality from vehicle collision, and increasing the probability of accidental encounters between tigers and people, leading to tigers being shot out of fear or opportunity.

Finally, human-caused mortality accounts for 75-85% of all Amur tiger deaths. The most immediate threat to the survival of the Siberian tiger is poaching for tiger parts to sell on the black market. Low incomes in many rural areas of the Russian Far East means that the sale of a Siberian tiger’s skin and bones represents a substantial source of income for poor people in remote villages. It is also common for hunters to illegally poach tigers to eliminate competition for ungulates and for locals to kill tigers in retaliation for preying on their domestic animals, such as dogs and cows.

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The Amur tigers are carnivores, and need large prey to survive. Their main prey species are ungulates, such as wild boar, sika deer and red deer. During the summer, tigers may prey on smaller animals such as badgers and raccoon dogs.

The relationship the Siberian tiger has with these animals are considered predator-prey relationships.

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Did you know?

The Manchu considered the Siberian tiger as Hu Lin, the king.The most elite unit of the Chinese Imperial Army in the Manchu Qing Dynasty was called “Hu Shen Ying,” literally "The Tiger God Battalion".

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Above, a Wolf pup and Siberian tiger kitten.

Also sharing territory with the Amur tiger is the Siberian wolf. While few carnivores can successfully compete with the wolf, the Siberian tiger is a known exception. Siberian tigers may occasionally prey on wolves, but never the opposite.

As a general rule, canines such as wolves, dholes, African wild dogs, and jackals, among others, have a great deal of respect for big cats, and will keep their distance whenever they see or hear them. This is due to the fact that they are much larger and more powerful, and wolves thus tend to avoid them.

While wolves, especially Siberian wolves, which are the largest subspecies of wolf, pose an important threat to their prey, they seldom attempt interaction with the Siberian tiger. Both animals are rare, and therefore so are any encounters between them. If an encounter does occur, it is usually purely intimidatory; lots of growling, some howling perhaps and mock charges. Wolves, however, are smart, and even in packs, they will not risk the life of any one member against a more powerful foe.

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Above, a mother bear vs. Amur tiger encounter.

The Siberian tiger is the only known natural predator of the brown bear. Bear meat can make up a significant amount of the tiger’s diet, due to their overlapping habitats. The Amur tiger is known to prey mostly on the females and cubs, although will attack a male if they have a sufficient element of surprise and a large enough advantage. Sometimes tigers are even capable of imitating the sound of a bear’s prey to lure unsuspecting bears towards them.

Bears, especially the larger males, on the other hand, may occasionally attempt to steal a tiger’s kill. Therefore, Siberian tigers and brown bears are a serious threat to each other and both tend to avoid each other, although statistically, the tiger is more successful in battles between the two animals.

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Species Interactions

The Siberian Tiger is a territorial and mostly solitary, secretive predator. They interact among themselves only briefly to mate, and sometimes to share a kill.

They also rarely interact with other species, since they are nocturnal creatures, and most other animals in their habitat are diurnal. It is known, however, that they interact with bears, wolves, and the many other different types of organisms they prey on.

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Above is a graph plotting the population size changes of the Siberian tiger since 1930. The black line shows the growth trend of the total population. Logarithmic in nature, the growth of the Amur tiger population is slowing, most likely due to habitat loss and increasing fragmentation of that which they do have. This loss and fragmentation would also have the effect of reducing the species’ genetic diversity, further affecting their ability to reproduce, and for their population to grow.

If these trends continue, the Siberian tiger population in 2020 should be at about a total of 550 individuals.

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Siberian Tigers are the third largest land hunters on Earth, second only to the Polar bear and Brown bear.

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Population Growth: Limiting Factors

Limiting factors to their growth are mainly due to human influence, such as poaching for the illegal trade of their various parts, habitat destruction by the creation of human settlements, agricultural fields, and logging, secularisation by the construction of roads, and sometimes even competition for prey.

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A chart of Siberian Tiger population sizes in China and Russia over time.

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A map of where Siberian Tigers have been spotted in Eastern Russia and China