Who isn’t fascinated by Amur tigers (Panthera tigris ssp. altaica), also known as Siberian tigers? They can grow to an average of 10 feet in length and weigh between 390 and 660 pounds. Each individual animal has a unique set of stripes that provides crucial camouflage.
In the 1940s, these beautiful striped predators were hunted to the very brink of extinction. While the species has made a significant recovery, Amur tigers are still listed on the IUCN Red List as endangered with a wild population of only about 400 animals. Those that remain in the wild are now only found in a remote temperate forest section of Far East Russia, even though they have the largest home range of all tiger sub species.
Amur tigers are nocturnal hunters that prey on elk and boar, however, in their native range prey is becoming increasingly scarce. Other threats facing Amur tigers today are poaching for illegal wildlife trade and habitat loss due to poaching. You can see two of these majestic creatures on exhibit in Tiger Terrace at the Toledo Zoo.
