Tigers i look after

[craig]

Hi
For 18 years i`ve worked for a zoo looking after
siberian tigers and other cats.
Below i`ve posted a few photos of some of the tigers
i`ve looked after over the years.
Also posted after the photos some good news about Siberian tigers in the wild,
and another post about Siberian tigers in the International Tiger Studbook.

These first two photos are of our juvenile siberian tiger with me.


This one is taken from the TV,
have a look at the siberian tigers paw against the mans head!
I would love to be able to do that, but the risks
outway it, and our zoo policy would not allow it.

These next two are of an adult male siberian tiger,
he weighs just over 600 pounds.

[craig]

These two are of the cub i hand reared 16 years ago
with me in our garden.



regards,
Craig

[craig]

There is some good news regarding the Amur (Siberian) tiger.
According to the 2005 full range count in Russia
numbers are now about 500 Siberian tigers including about 100 cubs.
The count before this one in 1996 found about 470 including about 95 cubs.
This latest count was coordinated by WCS and involved almost 1000 people.
Siberian tigers have more advantages over the other sub-species of tigers,
comparing the last two counts numbers appear to be stable,
they also live in a 1000km continuous forest,
and the 500 individuals is a single population.
Apart from the survey counting the single population of 500 individuals,
the survey also counted the separate sub-population in
South-West Primorye but only 8 adults was counted unfortunately.
The main population is the largest single population of any tiger.
Another advantage is they have relatively few people
in that part of the world.
For more information about this latest count see this link-
17/6/2005 -- Siberian Tigers Stable, According to Landmark Survey

regards,
Craig

[craig]

Some information about Siberian tigers in the International Tiger Studbook.
In the International Tiger Studbook there are
about 550 Amur (Siberian) tigers in zoos alive today,
these 550 Siberian tigers are descended from 109 wild-caught Founders.
Orginally there was 134 wild-caught "Founders" taken from Russia,
and from them 109 wild-caught "Founders" have left
living descendants alive today.
The Founders are the original tigers taken from the wild and put into zoos.
Most of the 109 Siberian tiger Founders was taken in the 1950s and 1960s.
All of the Siberian tiger wild-caught Founders
are registered in the studbook, the first one
registered was in the year 1954.
When those wild-caught Founders was registered in the
studbook they was registered as wild-caught and given a studbook number.
All of the descendants of those
wild-caught Founders are also given a studbook number along
with both parents studbook numbers.
Because each individual is given a studbook number
along with both its parents studbook numbers we
can trace each individuals ancestry back without
interruption up to the wild-caught Founders.
The tiger studbook only
register tigers that are offspring of parents that
are already registered in the studbook, and every
tiger registered have to be able to be traced back
without interruption up to the wild-caught Founder.
The studbook also gives the location an individual
is kept and any transfers to another location, also
the date of birth and place of birth, and when it dies the date.
Thanks to the studbook we know that all the tigers
registered in the studbook are 100% pure-bred.
From the year 1954 to the year 2005 a total
of 4930 Siberian tigers have been registered in the studbook,
and some more will certainly have been registered since then.
Most of the studbook registered 550 Siberian tigers alive
today in zoos take part in breeding programs like the-
EEP Europe (26 counties take part in the EEP for Siberian tigers)
SSP in North America
SSCJ Japan
These breeding programs use the Tiger studbook
to make breeding recommendations.
Genetic diversity is very good in the Siberian tiger zoo
population because of the large amount of Founders and
very good management from the breeding programs.
Most zoos that hold tigers are sent a copy of the
latest studbook from the studbook keeper Peter Muller
at the Leipzig zoo Germany.
I have looked in the latest copy of the tiger
studbook and below i`ve given the latest numbers of
the 5 sub-species of tigers alive today in zoos according to the
studbook, and also the number of Founders for each population.

Siberian tiger - the population is
about 550 in captivity alive today,
these are descended from 109 Founders.

Bengal tiger - the population is
about 210 in captivity alive today,
these are descended from 29 Founders.

Sumatran tiger - the population is
about 223 in captivity alive today,
these are descended from 39 Founders.

Indo-Chinese tiger - the population is
about 134 in captivity alive today,
these are descended from 14 Founders.

South-China tiger - the population is
about 41 in captivity alive today,
these are descended from 6 Founders

[paul m]

Impressive photos.
Also pleasing to hear that numbers are stabilising. It's good to know that captive breeding is successful but what are the chances of re-establishing most of these in the wild? Pretty slim, from many reports ....

[craig]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your comments.
There are no plans, plus theres no need to reintroduce
captive Siberian tigers back to the wild.
However theres a project by WWF to reintroduce captive
bred Persian leopards back to the wild.
Without captive breeding this project would not be possible.
For more information about this reintroduction project see this link-
WWF - Reintroducing endangered leopards to the Northern Caucasus

regards,
Craig

[goosey]

Hi Craig, what a fantastic job you had- it must be so rewarding. They are great photo's, not many people have a chance to get so close. Which Zoo did you work at?
There is a really good wildlife park in Cumbria called the "South lakes Wildlife Park" which does lots of conservation work with Sumatran Tiger Trust and the Wildlife Protection Foundation. They have really impressive feeding times of the tigers, which are over all too fast, the meat is put at the top of a telegraph pole (or something similar) and the tigers are released into the feeding enclosure and the speed they ascend the pole and the power you see in them is amazing. This is preceded by a talk into the current situation of the Sumatran Tigers in the wild and poaching etc, the last time I was there I found this rather disturbing, which must have been the desired effect.
The whole park is quite lovely, with animals like emus and limurs loose in specific areas and the whole place has such a natural environment for all the animals - well as much as possible. It must be the best zoo type place I have ever been too.

[mtngoat]

And that's just a juvenile! Those were really nice pictures, though. But, I think I'll stick with petting my little one here. Btw, do you do rehabilitation there for tigers too?

[kandbslack@tiscali.co.uk]

Hi ya, I am planning on moving to Australia in the near future and really want to work with big cats when I get there. Could you possibly give me some advice on what i need to do, any info I could read etc. Would be iternally grateful.

Thank you
Kerry

[paul m]

Bad news about the genetic homogenising of Amur tigers. What happens when populations become small and inbred ......
BBC - Earth News - Amur tigers on 'genetic brink'

[Beverly Stayart]

Thanks for posting these photos. I especially like the last two.