Amur Tiger

Amur tigers live primarily in the oak and pine forests along the Amur River in Eastern Russia with small populations also found in northeast China and North Korea.

In parts of Siberia where the range of the Amur tiger's habitat overlaps that of other large predators such as bears and wolves, they are known to be a more dominant predator either chasing off or killing its competitors. However, humans still pose a threat to them.

Amur tigers live in a harsh environment, where extremely cold temperatures and deep snow are common. These tigers have several adaptations that help keep them warm. Thick fur and a layer of fat on their flanks and bellies help protect them from the elements. Like most tigers they have a ruff of fur around their necks, however their ruff is more developed in Amur tigers. Additionally, extra fur on their paws also help protect them from the cold.

Like other tigers, their coat is golden-orange with dark stripes. Each animal has stripes that are unique, like fingerprints. Amur tigers have more white and fewer stripes than other tigers. These colors help them hide in their environment: white is like snow, black like shadows and yellow like dead oak leaves.

Male footprints are rounded and the toe pad impressions are blunter than female footprints. Female prints are more elongated and their toe pads are narrower and more pointed. Amur tigers have excellent smell, sight and hearing.

The gestation period for Amur tigers is usually 104 days, with litters of 1 to 7 (2 to 4 is the average).

Tigers are mostly solitary except when they mate. They reach sexual maturity at 3 to 5 years. Males and females find each other through scent markings. These scent markings can be urine, rubbing their cheek glands on trees and shrubs and raking their claws on trees to mark them with the glands on their pads. They also smell with their mouth. This open mouth breathing is called "flehmen." After meeting, they may engage in courtship play – pawing, licking, cheek rubbing as well as quiet sounds like grunting and chuffing.

Cubs are born blind (eyes open at 1-2 weeks) and stay in dens. Between 1and 2 months they start to roam with mom. One half of all cubs perish before their first year of age due to being killed by brown bears, other tigers, forest or grass fires or their mothers being killed. Between 1 and 1 ½ they learn to hunt and at 1½ they can hunt on their own.