The Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is a rare subspecies

of tiger (P. tigris). Also known as the North China Tiger,

Manchurian, Amur or Korean Tiger, it is the largest naturally
occurring member of the Felidae family. On average, male
Siberian Tigers weigh about 225 kilograms (500 lb) and female
Amurs weigh about 160 kilograms (350 lb). However, males can
weigh as much as 350 kilograms (800 lb), the largest
documented wild Siberian Tiger weighing 384 kg (845 lbs). At
these sizes, the Siberian Tiger is the largest natural creature of the
cat family, a title it may share with the most northern living
Bengal tigers. This, however, is not as large as the liger, a
panthera hybrid only found in captivity. The largest captive
Siberian Tiger was 3.9 metres (13 ft) long and weighed over
423 kilograms (932 lb). Apart from its size, the Siberian Tiger is
differentiated from other tiger subspecies by its paler fur and
dark brown (rather than black) stripes. As well as colour their fur
is thicker and longer to help sustain the freezing temperatures of
its habitat. Siberian Tigers also have larger feet than most other
sub-species to facilitate movement through snow.

Distribution and population

The Siberian Tiger is critically endangered. In the early 1900s, it lived
throughout the northeastern China, Korean Peninsula, northeastern
Mongolia and southeastern Russia. Today, it has virtually disappeared
from South Korea and is largely confined to a very small part of
Russia's southern Far East (the Amur-Ussuri region of Primorye and
Khabarovsk, a location where it and the Amur Leopard are now being
actively protected). There are very few tigers in northeastern China
and fewer still in North Korea. Captive breeding and conservation
programs are currently active. The tiger population in the wild was
probably lower than 50 in the 1930s, increasing to more than 200 in
1982. Poaching has been brought under better control thanks to
frequent road inspections. A count, taken in 1996 reported 430
Siberian Tigers in the wild. However, Russian conservation efforts
have led to a slight increase, or at least to a stable population of the
subspecies, as the number of individuals in the Siberian Forests was
estimated between 431 and 529 in the last count in 2005. Like all other
cats, the Siberian Tiger is a carnivorous predator; an adept hunter, it
preys primarily on wild boar, roe deer, sika deer and goral, but will
also take smaller prey like lagomorphs (hares, rabbits, and pikas) and
fish, including salmon. Unlike the Bengal Tiger, the Siberian Tiger
rarely attacks humans. It has sometimes even been known to kill and
eat Asiatic black bears and even brown bears.Since it is estimated that
85% of a Siberian Tiger's diet is composed of red deer and wild boar,
protecting these and other prey animals from illegal hunting may be
just as important to the tiger's survival as preventing direct killing of
the big cats.

Captivity
The captive population of Siberian Tiger comprises several hundred
specimens. A majority of these tigers are found in Europe and North
America, but there are also a few specimens living in Asian zoos. The
large, distinctive and powerful cats are popular zoo exhibits. The
Siberian Tiger is bred within the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a project
based on 83 wild caught tigers. According to most experts, this
population is large enough to stay stable and genetically healthy. Today,
approximately 160 Siberian Tigers participate in the SSP, which makes
it the most extensively bred tiger subspecies within the programme.
There are currently no more than around 255 tigers in the tiger SSP from
three different subspecies. Developed in 1982, the Species Survival Plan
for the Siberian Tiger is the longest running program for a tiger
subspecies. It has been very fortunate and productive, and the breeding
program for the Siberian Tiger has actually been used as a good example
when new programs have been designed to save other animal species
from extinction. The Siberian Tiger is not very difficult to breed in
captivity, but the possibility to release captive bred specimens into the
wild is small. Conservation efforts that secure the wild population are
therefore still of imperative importance. If a captive bred Siberian Tiger
were to be released into the wild, it would lack the necessary hunting
skills and starve to death. Captive bred tigers can also approach humans
and villages since they have learned to associate humans with feeding
and lack the natural shyness of the wild tigers. In a worst-case scenario,
the starving tigers could even become man-eaters. Since tigers must be
taught how to hunt by their mothers when they are still cubs, a program
that aimed to release captive bred Siberian

Distribution of the Siberian Tiger (in black)