SiberianTiger(东北虎) 　　TheSiberiantiger(alsoknownastheAmur,Korean,Manchurian,orNorthChinatiger)isthelargestandmostpowerfulsubspeciesofnaturallyoccurringfeline.TheSiberiantigerisalmosttotallyconfinedtoaveryrestrictedpartofeasternRussia,theAmur-UssuriregionofPrimoryeandKhabarovsk,alocationitshareswiththeSiberianleopard,wheretheyarenowbeingactivelyprotected.About10%ofSiberiantigerpopulationsresideinChina. 　　ThetigerpopulationintheSikhote-Alinwas250in1992,increasingto350asof2004,despitesignificantlossesofcubsduetocaraccidentsonthesingleroadthatcrossestheirterritory.Illegalpoachinghasbeenbroughtundercontrolthankstofrequentroadinspections.Itisrumouredthattherearestillaround20ofthesetigersintheMountChangbaiareaofChina. 　　Asthetotalpopulationofthesetigersfellto150inthewild,manysubpopulationsarepossiblynotgeneticallyviable,subjecttopotentiallycatastrophicinbreeding.However,Russianconservationeffortshaveledtoarevivalofthesubspecies,andthenumberofindividualsinthePrimorskyregionofRussiahasrisenfrom450to500inthepastdecade,indicatingpositivegrowth. 　　TheSiberiantigercanweighasmuchas700lb(318kg)ormore.Inyearspast,scientistsbelievedthatthesecatscouldweighupto800lb(350kg),butthatearlierrange,whichwasbasedlargelyontheestimatesofhunters,isnotnowgenerallyaccepted.Apartfromthesize,Siberiantigersaredifferentiatedfromothertigersbytheirpalerfuranddarkbrown,ratherthanblack,stripes.Adepthunters,theypreyprimarilyonreddeer,wildboar,roedeer,sikadeer,andgoral,agoatlikeanimal,butwillalsotakesmallerpreylikehares,rabbits,andsalmon.TheyhavesometimesevenbeenknowntokillandeatsmallAsiaticblackbears.Sinceitisestimatedthat85%ofaSiberiantiger'sdietiscomposedofreddeerandwildboar,protectingtheseandotherpreyanimalsfromillegalhuntingmaybejustasimportanttothetiger'ssurvivalaspreventingdirectkillingofthebigcats. 　　SiberiantigerssometimescrossbreedswithBengaltigers.AwhiteSiberiantigerisusuallytheresultofsuchcrossbreedinganditisunsurewhetherpurewhiteSiberiantigersexist. 　　ASiberiantigernamedHodoriwaschosentorepresentthe1988SummerOlympicsheldinSeoul,SouthKorea. 　　Siberiantigersincaptivity 　　ThecaptivepopulationofSiberiantigerscomprisesseveralhundredspecimens.AmajorityofthesetigersarefoundinEurope,NorthAmericaandJapan,buttherearealsoafewspecimenslivinginAsianzoos.TheSiberiantigerisbredwithintheSpeciesSurvivalPlan(SSB),aprojectbasedon83wildcaughttigers.Accordingtomostexperts,thispopulationislargeenoughtostaystableandgeneticallyhealthy.Today,approximately160SiberiantigersparticipateintheSSP,whichmakesitthemostextensivelybredtigersubspecieswithintheprogram.Therearecurrentlynomorethanaround255tigersinthetigerSSPfromthreedifferentsubspecies.Developedin1982,theSpeciesSurvivalPlanfortheSiberiantigeristhelongestrunningprogramforatigersubspecies.IthasbeenveryfortunateandproductiveandthebreedingprogramfortheSiberiantigerhasactuallybeenusedasagoodexamplewhennewprogramshavebeendesignedtosaveotheranimalspeciesfromextinction. 　　TheSiberiantiger