Nine News.
Recently, in Hunchun, Jilin Province, there was a very rare case of Siberian tigers preying on Siberian leopards.
Through the on-site investigation of the Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park Administration, the Hunchun Branch of the Forest Public Security Bureau of the Jilin Provincial Public Security Department and other departments, combined with the measurement data of the Siberian tiger's footprints left on the snow, the perpetrator has been preliminarily determined to be an adult male Siberian tiger.
According to the real-time monitoring system of the sky, earth and air, about 10 different Siberian tiger individuals have appeared in the area around the scene of the incident in the past year.
Excluding 8 female tigers, among the only remaining 2 male tiger screening objects, the male tiger numbered 112 had just traveled here 10 days ago, and its activity trajectory was closest to the ** killed Siberian leopard in time and space, and was locked as the largest suspected tiger.
In the next step, the expert group will make a final confirmation after comparing the DNA samples with the assay.
Previously, the scene where the remains of the Amur leopard was found was in shambles, and the dead Amur leopard was lying in the snow, with multiple traces of gnawing on its head, abdomen and buttocks.
After arriving at the scene, we followed the trail and found the footprints of another feline along the way, with obvious traces of a fight about 160 meters to the south, which should be the first scene of the 'crime'. At the time, the police confirmed that the leopard had been hunted and eaten only a few hours earlier, and that the carcass had not stiffened at that time. Yu Hongxun, deputy director of the Hunchun Branch of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, introduced.
The carcass of an Amur leopard. Source: **Screenshot.
According to the investigation results, the Siberian leopard was culled and eaten by an adult male Siberian tiger through the measurement of footprints at the scene, fighting marks and predatory habits. Through pattern comparison, it was determined that this Siberian leopard belonged to the leopard group in the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, and the number was No. 73.
This is an 8-year-old male leopard in the prime of life, who has spread to the area to establish its own territory as an adult, and belongs to the first 'aboriginal people' in the region, and is the third generation of the Amur leopard population to return to China, and has bred multiple cubs. Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said.
Suspected Siberian tiger footprints.
Studies have shown that the weight difference between the Siberian tiger and the Amur leopard is huge, and the objective difference in size makes the Amur leopard unable to compete with the Siberian tiger under normal circumstances.
The suspect tiger left its birthplace this year and began to spread north 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.
Traces left by the Amur leopard being dragged.
It is reported that the forest farm where the incident occurred 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. The site is the core of Haw Par activities and is about 20 kilometres away from residential areas.
Why did tigers kill leopards?
Although the Amur leopard tries to avoid encountering the Siberian tiger, it is difficult to avoid it completely, and if the two encounter, the leopard cannot escape in time and will be killed by the tiger.
The on-site investigation also found that the area where the incident occurred was an open area, which made it difficult for the leopard to escape when it encountered it up close.
With the construction of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, the ecosystem has been restored rapidly, and the herbivore population has grown rapidly and spread, thus laying the foundation for the recovery of the tiger and leopard population.
The entire life history of the No. 73 Amur leopard condenses the changes in the forest of the national park where it lives. When it first settled and established its territory, there were no other Amur leopards and Siberian tigers in the area. With the establishment of national parks, Siberian tigers, both male and female, began to settle in the area and began to breed as the ecosystem was further restored.
As the tiger and leopard population grows, so does the probability of tigers and leopards encountering each other.
Although No. 73 was strong enough and knew his territory well, encountering another powerful predator, the Siberian tiger, who was also familiar with the terrain, led to this rare natural phenomenon of tigers hunting leopards.
However, this kind of territorial overlap between tigers and leopards cannot avoid friction and does not affect the population population, and after a period of adjustment, with the further spread of tiger and leopard habitat, the ecosystem will tend to be balanced.
Monitoring shows that in the vicinity of the incident, 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
According to 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 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. ”
*: Comprehensive People's ** client, CCTV network, CCTV news.