Cats in China S

S. Luo LUO SHU-JIN¹ tall grassland and deciduous forests in South Asia, mangrove forest in Sundarbans, and the The status of the tiger in China mixed Korean pine/deciduous and temperate deciduous forests in the Russian Far East Panthera tigris (Nowell & Jackson 1996, Seidensticker et al. 1999, Sunquist & Sunquist 2002). They less The tiger Panthera tigris is the world’s largest all living tigers are traced back to a common commonly inhabit pure coniferous forests, species of Felidae, although there is size vari- ancestor as recent as 72,000–108,000 years swamps, meadows, or alpine areas, but tracks ation across its range. There are only 3,000 to ago, as reflected by their relatively low ge- have been found in the snow at 3,000 m in 5,000 tigers left in the wild, reduced from prob- netic diversity (Kitchener 1999, Wentzel et al. the Himalayas (Prater 1971). Tigers tend to ably over 100,000 a century ago, due to habitat 1999, Luo et al. 2004). This is a consequence avoid open landscapes and are almost never loss and fragmentation, prey base depletion, of recent demographic reductions, probably found in agricultural lands (Smith 1993). These and human persecution (Dinerstein et al. 2007, related to the earth’s largest known volcanic habitat preferences reflect the habitat prefer- IUCN 2010). The tiger’s geographic range has explosion during the Quaternary – the Toba ences of their prey, and are therefore useful declined by about 41% from its occurrence volcano super eruption in Sumatra. The extant in predicting suitable tiger habitat in China. estimated a decade ago and now occupies only tigers are divided into six subspecies: Amur The home range of a tiger correlates with 7% of the historic range (Dinerstein et al. 1997, tiger P. t. altaica (Fig. 1); Indochinese tiger P. t. prey density, varying from as small as 20 km² Dinerstein et al. 2006, Sanderson et al. 2006). corbetti; Malayan tiger P. t . j a c k s o n i ; Sumatran for a female tiger in the Indian subcontinent The population is fragmented into 76 Tiger tiger P. t . s u m a t r a e; Bengal tiger P. t . t i g r i s; and where primary productivity is high, to 450 km² Conservation Landscapes – places and habi- South China tiger P. t . a m o y e n s i s (Mazak 1981, in northeast Asia (Smith 1993, Miquelle et al. tats that have the best chance of supporting Luo et al. 2004). Three subspecies previously 2006). Because tigresses are territorial, each viable tiger populations into the future – but recognized on the basis of morphology are female requires a non-overlapping range. no subpopulation has more than 250 mature extinct: Bali tiger P. t . b a l i c a (Schwarz 1912), This fact is of critical importance in deter- breeding individuals (Dinerstein et al. 2006, Javan tiger P. t . s o n d a i c a (Temminck 1844), mining area requirements for a population. Sanderson et al. 2006). Tigers are currently and Caspian tiger P. t . v i r g a t a (Illiger 1815). For instance, in northeast China, in order to found in 13 Asian range states: Bangladesh, Conservation of tigers in China is unique and maintain a population of 20 breeding female Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, important to tiger conservation in the world, tigers, approximately 8,000 km² of well- 10 Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, as four of the six remaining tiger subspecies connected habitat is necessary. No reserve in Thailand, and Vietnam (Nowell & Jackson, occur in the wild in China. northeast China covers such a large area, and 1996). They may still persist in North Korea, thus planning for tiger recovery zones beyond although there has been no recent confirmed Ecology and behaviour the current protected areas is essential. evidence (IUCN 2010). The most important factors for tiger survival Male tigers have the capacity to disperse very are dense vegetation cover, abundant large long distances, with a record of up to 1,000 Evolution and taxonomy ungulate prey, and access to water (Sunquist km away from source populations (Heptner The earliest tiger fossils, found in northern et al. 1999). Tigers thrive in a variety of & Sludskii 1992). Males make long-distance China and Java (in Indonesia), date back to habitats, including tropical evergreen and movements in search of potential mates, around 2 million years ago (Hemmer 1987). Yet moist deciduous forests of Southeast Asia, and will rarely settle in one location unless a female is found. The available evidence sug- gests that female tigers seldom disperse more than 30–40 km from their natal home range, and often inherit a portion of their mother’s home range (Smith 1993, Sunquist & Sunquist 2002). Many sightings of tiger in northeast China near the border with the Russian Far East are most likely such dispersing males, and not evidence for a stable reproducing population (D. Miquelle, pers. comm.). Female tigers normally start reproducing at between 3 and 4 years of age and males do not generally start until they are about 5 years old when they establish a territory of their own (Smith & McDougal 1991). Mating takes place at any time of year, but most frequently from late November to early April. Female tigers give birth to 2–4 cubs after a gestation of 100–104 days. The female rears Fig. 1. A camera trap picture was taken of a tiger at the Xishuangbanna Nature Reser- the cubs alone, and they become independent ve in Yunnan, China on May 13, 2007 (Photo L. Feng & A. Zhang). at 18–28 months old. Females usually breed CATnews Special Issue 5 Autumn 2010 The status of the tiger in China every 2–2.5 years (Mazak 1981). Although they live longer in zoos (26 years recorded), Panthera tigris the oldest wild tiger on record was a female Fact Sheet tiger of 17 years in Nepal (McDougal 1991). Names: Global Population: Prey 虎 [hu], 老虎 [lao hu] 3,000-5,000 in the wild Tigers have a wide prey spectrum, ranging tiger (IUCN 2010) from frogs to elephant calves, but through- Chinese Populations: out their range the dominant prey are large Head and body length: 37-50 individuals, of which ungulate species. Tigers’ preferred prey in 215-275 cm (females) -Amur tiger P. t . a l t a i c a northeast Asia are red deer, wild boar, roe 220-330 cm (males) (northeastern China): 18-22 deer, and sika deer (Miquelle et al. 1996, Weight: - Bengal tiger P. t. tigris Miquelle et al. 2006). In the South Asia region, 75-167 kg (females) (Motuo county, Tibet): 8-12 sambar, chital, barking deer, spotted deer, red 100-306 kg (males) - Indochinese tiger P. t. deer, hog deer, gaur, and wild pigs comprise corbetti (southern Yunnan the principal diet (Karanth & Nichols 2002). Distribution in China: province): 11-16 Indochinese tigers prey mainly on sambar, formerly widely in NE, SE, - South China tiger P. t. wild pigs, serow, and large bovids such as C, and S China amoyensis (southern Chi- banteng and gaur. Adult tigers must kill the na): no definite evidence equivalent of one large ungulate per week, or IUCN Red List: - Caspian tiger P. t. virgata about 50 large prey animals per year (Karanth Endangered A2bcd+4bcd; (Xinjiang): extinct et al. 2004). For females nursing cubs, the rate C1+2a(i) (2010) (IUCN 2010) must be higher. If large prey species are not CITES: Photo A. Sliwa Photo available, a female cannot make a sufficient Appendix I number of kills to rear cubs successfully, as small prey species do not provide sufficient China Red List: biomass to sustain both herself and her cubs. CR d Thus, although tigers can survive for a short China Key List: 11 while on an assortment of smaller prey, in the Class I long term these species form an insignificant part of the tiger’s diet (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002). Assuming that a tiger removes 10–20% of the prey population per year, a single tiger requires a prey base of no fewer than 250–500 individuals within its home range in order to in 1949, and over 3,000 were killed during the decreasing for over a century since the Qing survive (Miquelle et al. 1996). This fact is 1950s and 1960s when they were declared dynasty’s ban on the exploitation of forests of particular importance when considering pests and officially hunted down, until pro- was lifted in 1870, and under Japanese oc- tiger habitat recovery in China, where large tection status was given in 1977 (Lu & Sheng cupation the forest was decimated until 1950 ungulate populations are also in decline in 1986a, Ma et al. 1997, Smith & Xie 2008). (Ma 1983). The tiger was widely distributed in many regions. The scattered surviving population is then the Daxing’anling, Xiaoxing’anling, Laoyeling, thought to have declined to the brink of ex- Zhangguangcailing, Wandashan, and Chang- Distribution and population dynamics tinction with only occasional reports from the baishan mountains, but became extinct in the Tigers in China have been reduced to a few, provinces of Zhejiang, Hubei, Guangdong, and 1960s in the Daxinganling Mountains, in the scattered populations (see Fig. 2) with a total Guizhou (State Forestry Administration 2009). 1970s in the Xiaoxinganling Mountains, and number fewer than 50, all with a highly pre- Extensive surveys over the last 10 years have at the end of the 1980s in the Changbaishan carious future. This dramatic drop in numbers failed to find direct evidence of their existence Mountains (Ma et al.

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