The Ultimate Predator

Darren Curt Jespersen

October 29, 2008

It is a distinguished monster that is unimaginable in the greatest extent!  It would leave a full grown man quaking with terror.  This massive creature of horror is a SIBERIAN TIGER!

One can easily identify this feline from other tigers due to its physical characteristics.  Standing at one meter from the ground to its shoulder and measuring two to three meters from head to rear, the Siberian Tiger is known to be the largest tiger in the world.  The Siberian Tiger has lighter colour and thicker fur than other tigers because it lives in colder climates.  It has two full layers of fur which make up its white chest and belly, with the thicker fur on its neck.  Their gold or amber eyes have good sight.  In addition, this tiger has a pink nose and nostrils. 

On top of its mouth there exists a Jacobson’s organ that helps the tiger to smell another tiger and to know its gender or if the female is pregnant or not and to sense its mood.  These physical attributes help this massive creature survive in its territory.

 Survival of the Siberian Tiger in its natural habitat is critical as its numbers decrease.  This giant mainly lives in the woodlands in eastern Russia.  Due to poachers, only four hundred live in the wild and five hundred in zoos. 

          It is difficult for zoo keepers to duplicate the Siberian Tiger’s natural hunting diet and behaviour.  These monsters, like all cats, are carnivores and predators.  They will kill deer, moose, elk, oxen, goats and wild boar; in times of need, a tiger will even eat insects to survive.  The Siberian Tiger has sharp teeth to tear meat off its prey.  They are able to swallow large quantities of meat whole.  Since their rough tongue it can lick bones clean.  When the tiger sees its prey, its first reaction is to crouch.  As soon as this cat crouches, it starts to crawl on its belly towards the prey. When the hunter thinks it’s the right time, it charges! 

When it closes in on its prey the carnivore swipes or knocks it down!  At this point, it hides its prey, and feeds on it later.  The female will bring her cubs to the carcass. 

          It is important that the Siberian Tiger has a chance to reproduce.  The male will mate at any time in the year but usually looks for a mate in the months of November and April.  At the end of her gestation which lasts about one hundred days, the female Siberian Tiger will give birth to one to six cubs which weigh two pounds each.  The mother tiger will have babies in the safest place it can find like in a cave or the grassy forest floor.  In a zoo it may have them on a rock.  The tiger cubs open their eyes when they are about a week old and will leave their mother at two years of age.

          These two year old tigers will continue to mature until they reach the size and strength of their parents before them.  They will find their own territory.  One by one they will find their own mates and the life story of the distinguished Siberian Tiger will continue.