Recently, in Hunchun, Jilin Province, there was a very rare case of Siberian tigers preying on Siberian leopards, through the Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park Administration and the Hunchun Branch of the Forest Public Security Bureau of the Jilin Provincial Public Security Department and other departments of the working group on-site investigation, preliminarily confirmed that the Siberian tiger was responsible, and in the database of the Siberian Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the individual information of the predated Siberian leopard was found for the first time, which was the male Siberian leopard No. 73. In order to further find out the information about the Siberian tiger that caused the accident, the working group interpreted, screened and analyzed a large number of monitoring data after obtaining evidence at the scene, and so far, the investigation has made great progress.
Two days after the Siberian tiger predation of the Siberian leopard, the research team rushed to the scene and the forest area around the scene to try to find more information from the clues left by the Siberian tiger. During the initial on-site inspection, the team of experts preliminarily determined that the perpetrator was an adult male Siberian tiger based on the measurement data of Siberian tiger footprints left on the snow.
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Siberian Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and associate professor of Beijing Normal University: Because we can see that it has a very clear footprint of its hind foot, and the width of the palm pad of its hindfoot reaches 11.5 cm, so this is a typical footprint of an adult male Siberian tiger.
According to experts, adult female Siberian tigers are smaller in size, and the width of the hind foot pads is less than 10 centimeters. Compared with the adult Amur leopard, the difference in body shape and weight between the two is even greater.
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and associate professor at Beijing Normal University: The victim leopard is an adult male leopard, and he weighs about 50 kilograms. And this male tiger weighs more than 200 kilograms. If the two of them fought, the leopard basically had no chance of winning. Judging from the scene, this is a very typical process of ambushing and killing prey by tigers. The entire length of this drag is more than 100 meters.
In fact, in the encounter between the tiger and the leopard, although the leopard does not have the upper hand in the fight, its more slender and flexible body and unique climbing ability are enough to support it to escape quickly, or climb to a higher place to protect itself, and when it smells the tiger's tracks, the leopard will quickly avoid a head-on encounter. In addition, in areas where tigers and leopards are distributed in the same area, in order to avoid their edge, leopards mostly go out with tigers, and the target prey is also different from tigers, among which tigers are mainly large and medium-sized herbivores, while leopards are mainly small and medium-sized herbivores. Why did the Amur leopard, which is so cautious and has little competition with tigers for food or territory, cause tigers to go on a killing spree without warning?
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and associate professor of Beijing Normal University: Actually, if we look at the terrain in front, the front is relatively open, and it is particularly unsuitable for leopards to hide. When the tiger and the leopard suddenly met in this place, the leopard did not have time to find a place to hide, so the tiger was quickly bitten to death.
With the help of a surveillance system, experts have identified suspected Siberian tigers
Although the team confirmed that the perpetrator of the Amur leopard was an adult male tiger during the initial on-site inspection, it was not so easy to identify the male tiger, which needs to be confirmed with the help of the advanced sky-ground air monitoring system in the Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park.
After carefully inspecting the space-ground air monitoring system, the working group found that there were many Siberian tigers active in this not very large forest area, but which one was the most likely perpetrator?
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Siberian Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and associate professor at Beijing Normal University: The real-time monitoring system shows that in the past year, about 10 different Siberian tigers have appeared in the area around the scene of the incident.
Of the 10 tigers that have been preliminarily screened, some have already settled, some are spreading, and some are just visiting here. It is difficult to determine who is most suspicious to kill a perennial Amur leopard from the trajectory alone, and the next task is to further narrow down the scope of the investigation, that is, to eliminate the female tiger in the first place.
Excluding 8 female tigers, among the only remaining 2 male tigers, the male tiger numbered 112 had just traveled here 10 days ago, and its activity trajectory was closest to that of the killed Amur leopard in time and space, and was locked as the largest suspected tiger. So, where did this Siberian tiger, numbered No. 112, come from, and under what circumstances did it kill a Siberian leopard?
Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and associate professor at Beijing Normal University: This year, it left its birthplace and began to spread northward to this area. It is very likely that he encountered this Amur leopard by chance during the dispersal process, and then killed this Amur leopard.
Up to now, the suspect tiger has been preliminarily identified, and the next step will be for final confirmation by the expert group after comparing the collection and measurement of DNA samples.
Effectively promote protective measures to prevent human-tiger conflicts
Through the incident of Siberian tigers hunting and killing Siberian leopards, many people have thought that in this small mountain forest, there are 10 Siberian tigers, and they can even hunt and kill such fierce beasts as leopards.
After on-the-spot investigation, the reporter found that the forest farm is located in the core area of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, and there is only one road for a small number of staff to commute. In addition, the site serves as the core area of Haw Par activities, and it is still some distance away from residential areas.
Liu Junyu, Captain of the Forest Case Investigation Brigade of the Hunchun Forest Public Security Bureau: Because this location is still a certain distance from the people's living areas, it is about 20 kilometers away from the residential areas.
It is precisely because of the recovery of the Siberian tiger population and the increase in numbers that such a rare natural phenomenon as tigers preying on leopards has emerged. An important reminder of this incident for the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park is that it is urgent to further strengthen the isolation between humans and predators and the prevention of human-animal conflicts in and around the distribution areas of tigers and leopards.
Monitoring shows that in the vicinity of the incident site, only about 200 square kilometers of national parks, due to lush forests and abundant prey, 10 Siberian tigers and many Siberian leopards have been attracted.
Feng Limin, Deputy Director of the Siberian Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and Associate Professor of Beijing Normal University: So the next step is to further improve the quality of habitat in the Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park, and then further restore the food chain and the entire ecosystem. In this way, the population will be in the wider area of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, and it will settle down and reproduce its own offspring, so that the entire Chinese tiger and leopard population will further expand.
(CCTV reporter Li Gang, Zhao Yingchen, Hunchunrong media)
Source: CCTV News