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Siberian Tiger
| Siberian Tiger |
| Description: |
The Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is a rare subspecies of tiger (P. tigris). Also known as the Siberian, Korean, Manchurian, or North China Tiger, it is the largest natural animal in the feline family Felidae.
The Amur Tiger is critically endangered. In the early 1900s, it lived throughout the Korean Peninsula, northeastern Mongolia, southeastern Russia, and northeastern China. 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 Manchuria (northeastern China) and fewer still in North Korea. Captive breeding and conservation programs are currently active.
The tiger population in the Sikhote-Alin was 250 in 1992, increasing to 350 as of 2004, despite significant losses of cubs due to car accidents on the single road that crosses their territory. Illegal poaching has been brought under control thanks to frequent road inspections. It is rumoured that there are still around 20 of these tigers in the Mount Changbai area of China.
As the total population of these tigers fell to 150 in the wild, many subpopulations are possibly not genetically viable, subject to potentially catastrophic inbreeding. However, Russian conservation efforts have led to a revival of the subspecies, and the number of individuals in the Primorsky region of Russia has risen from 450 to 500 in the past decade, indicating positive growth.
An Amur Tiger named Hodori was chosen to represent the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea. |
| Date: |
19.11.2006 21:40 |
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