A few days ago, a tragic "homicide case" occurred in Hunchun, Jilin Province, the body of a Siberian leopard, a national first-class protected animal, was found, the body was mutilated, and the blood stained the snow red, and the "leopard murderer" was likely to be a Siberian tiger. What's the story behind this rare conflict between tigers and leopards?
The Amur leopard, also known as the Far Eastern leopard, is the smallest subspecies of the leopard genus and the rarest subspecies. They are mainly found in the Far East of Russia, as well as in the forests of the Heilongjiang River basin in China. The Amur leopard is about 1.5 meters long and weighs about 50 kilograms, with a yellowish-brown coat and many black spots and patterns on its body. The Amur leopard is a ferocious, agile, and tree-climbing animal, and they feed on small and medium-sized herbivores such as deer, hares, squirrels, etc. The Amur leopard is one of the most endangered big cats in the world, with less than 100 remaining in the world, including more than 20 in China.
The Siberian tiger, also known as the Siberian tiger, is the largest subspecies of the tiger genus and one of the largest land carnivores in the world. They are mainly found in the Siberian region of Russia, as well as in the northeastern region of China. Siberian tigers can reach a length of up to 3 meters, weigh more than 200 kilograms, have a light yellow coat with many black stripes. The Siberian tiger is a domineering, powerful, and good swimming animal, and they eat large and medium-sized herbivores as their main food, such as roe deer, wolves, wild boars, red deer, etc. The Siberian tiger is also one of the world's most endangered big cats, with only about 500 of them remaining in the world, including just over 50 in China, which is also very rare.
The Amur leopard and the Siberian tiger have a co-habitat distribution in some areas, which means that they can meet and clash. While the food choices of the two differ, in situations where food is scarce, they may compete for prey or territory, and may even prey on each other. Generally speaking, Siberian tigers are far larger and stronger than Siberian leopards, so in confrontations between tigers and leopards, Siberian leopards are often at a disadvantage and can only choose to flee or hide. However, sometimes, the Amur leopard also has the misfortune to be killed by the Siberian tiger, as happened in this incident.
On December 24, a netizen accidentally found the carcass of a Siberian leopard, then took a photo and uploaded it to the Internet. This photo quickly attracted the attention and discussion of netizens, how did this Siberian leopard die, was it killed by humans, or was it killed by other animals, and if it was the latter, what animal could kill a Siberian leopard?
In order to find out the truth, the local forestry and wildlife protection department quickly sent a team of experts to the scene to investigate. After careful examination, the expert group uncovered a number of important clues.
First, the Amur leopard had obvious bite marks on its body, especially on the neck and abdomen, suggesting that it was killed by other animals and not by humans.
Secondly, the body of the Amur leopard was dragged for some distance, leaving a clear trail of blood, indicating that it was preyed upon by other animals and not attacked by other animals.
Finally, there are many Siberian tiger footprints around the body of this Siberian leopard, and the size and shape of these footprints indicate that they belonged to an adult male Siberian tiger, indicating that it was killed by a Siberian tiger and not by other animals.
Through these clues, the expert group preliminarily determined that the perpetrator of the Siberian leopard homicide case was an adult male Siberian tiger. But who is this Siberian tiger, and why did it kill a Siberian leopard? In order to further identify these problems, the team needed to track the identity and whereabouts of the Siberian tiger and leopard with the help of the sky, ground and air monitoring system of the Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park.
The space-ground and air monitoring system is an important scientific research and conservation tool in the Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park, which monitors and records the distribution, number, activities and behaviors of Siberian tigers and Amur leopards in the park in real time through satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, infrared cameras and other equipment, providing scientists with a large amount of data and information. Through this system, scientists can number and identify each Siberian tiger and Amur leopard, and understand their gender, age, weight, health status, kinship, territorial range, migration routes, etc., so as to better protect and manage these precious wildlife.
Using the space-ground and air monitoring system, the expert group began to track and investigate the suspected tiger. After careful analysis, the team found that a total of 10 different Siberian tigers had been seen in the vicinity of the incident site in a year's time, of which 8 were females and 2 were males. Based on footprint measurements at the site, the team excluded eight female tigers and targeted two males.
To further narrow it down, the team compared the trajectory and timing of the two male tigers and found that the Siberian tiger, numbered 112, was more likely to be the perpetrator. It turned out that the Siberian tiger had only arrived in the area 10 days earlier, and it had come here by accident as it spread north from its birthplace. Moreover, the range and timing of the Siberian tiger, numbered 112, were very close to that of the killed Amur leopard, and it is almost certain that they met in the same place on the same day.
Through these analyses, the expert group basically locked down the identity of the suspect tiger, which is the male Siberian tiger numbered 112. However, in order to be more confident, the panel also needs to carry out the final evidence collection and comparison, which is the analysis of DNA samples.
After confirming the identity of the perpetrator, many netizens began to care about a new question, that is, how to deal with this Siberian tiger and how to "convict" it?
In nature, Siberian tigers and Amur leopards don't usually prey on each other, but when they live in the same area and are apex predators, there is fierce competition. In order to improve the success rate of hunting and reduce competition with other predators, Siberian tigers sometimes hunt Siberian leopards, especially in the cold winter when food is scarce, and it is not ruled out that tigers will prey on leopards. This is the instinctive behavior of Siberian tigers, a choice they make in order to survive, and cannot be judged and punished by human moral standards.
For this male Siberian tiger, numbered 112, I think the most appropriate way to deal with it is, firstly, through the analysis of a DNA sample, to confirm whether it is really the perpetrator, and if so, through "heaven and earth" The integrated monitoring system tracks its activity trajectory, understands its habitat and Xi, and if it has settled here, it can be appropriately intervened through scientific methods, such as marking it with electronic tags and strictly controlling it to reduce its threat to other animals, and at the same time, it is necessary to strengthen its protection and prevent it from being harmed by humans.