Amur Tiger

PANTHERA TIGRIS ALTAICIA

Also called Siberian tigers, Amur tigers are the world’s largest cats. They live primarily in eastern Russia’s birch forests, though some exist in China and North Korea. Tigers generally live and hunt alone. They will travel many miles to find prey such as elk and wild boar on nocturnal hunts, eating as much as 60 pounds in one night. They use their distinctive coats as camouflage and no two tigers have exactly the same stripes. Tigers are nearly invisible to their prey because of their orange fur. Their most common prey (deer and other ungulates) only have 2 color receptors in their eyes, instead of 3, meaning that they are unable to see colors like red or orange. This means that the orange fur of a tiger appears to a deer as a muted shade of green. Only an estimated 400-500 Amur tigers remain in the wild. Tigers are often hunted for trophies and also for body parts that are used in traditional Chinese medicine. All five remaining tiger subspecies are endangered, and many protection programs are in place. Poaching, though reduced, is still a very significant threat to these animals. Unlike almost all other big cats, tigers are very good swimmers. They enjoy bathing and playing in the water when young. As adults, they have been known to swim several miles to hunt or to cross rivers.

Click HERE for an Amur Tiger Activity Sheet!

Our Current Residents

Both Sofi and Jasmine are sisters that were born into a roadside menagerie in Florida that used them in "swim-with-a-tiger" programs. When they got too big for those programs the menagerie had to choose to rehome them or euthanize them. Luckily they both were rehomed at ZooMontana in 2014. 

Sofi: Female, Born November 12, 2012

Sofi has fewer stripes than Jasmine which can clearly be seen on her right side. Sofi also has a backwards, black number "4" on her right cheek. One way to remember her name is that Sofi has the number "4" and four letters in her name. 

Jasmine: Female, Born November 12, 2012

Jasmine is missing her right canine tooth which often results in her having a "snarl" on her face. She has a negative space (orange and white) upright "7" on her left cheek. Like Sofi's number and name correlation, Jasmine has the "7" on her cheek, and seven letters in her name. See if you can tell who's in the above picture!

Taxonomy

  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Mammalia
  • Order: Carnivora
  • Family: Felidae
  • Genus: Panthera tigris
  • Species: Panthera tigris altaicia

Animal Facts

  • Carnivore: eats meat such as elk, red deer, boar, and fish
  • Population: endangered
  • Habitat: Birch Forest
  • Mostly Nocturnal: awake mostly during night


Our Animals