Saturday, March 13, 2010

Dietary habits

In the southeast Trans-Caucasus, the Siberian tiger's main prey was Wild Boar, though it occasionally fed on Roe Deer, Red Deer and domestic animals such as dogs, pigs, sheep, and cattle in winter. Tigers in Iran ate the same species with the addition of gazelle. The Siberian Tiger's prey in Turkmenia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan was primarily boar, as well as Bactrian deer. In the lower Amu Darya River, tigers sometimes preyed on Golden Jackals, Jungle Cats, lynx, and dholes. On the Zhana-Darya and around the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan, as well as boar, the tiger fed on Saiga, Goitered Gazelle, Wild horses, Mongolian Wild Ass and Argali. In Tajikistan and other regions of central Asia, as well as Kazakhstan, tigers frequently attacked dogs, horses and rarely Bactrian Camels. In Baikal, the Siberian tiger fed on Wild Boar, Roe Deer, Manchurian wapiti, Moose and livestock.

In the Amur region, the tiger preys primarily on Red Deer and Wild Boar, which make up 65-90% of its diet in the Russian Far East. Other important prey species are Manchurian wapiti, Moose, Siberian Roe Deer, Sika Deer, Musk deer and goral. It will also take smaller prey like lagomorphs (hares, rabbits, and pikas) and fish, including salmon. Tigers may prey on both Brown and Black Bears when ungulate populations decrease.

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