Post by brobear on Mar 4, 2022 2:06:28 GMT -5
The heaviest wild Amur tiger whose weight was confirmed weighed 254 kilograms - slightly under 600 pounds.
So, why do we continuously find stories told of these massive 700 pound tigers roaming the taiga of the Russian Far East and in the forests of China? Both the Bengal and the Amur tigers typically reach about 440 pounds. A 500 pound tiger is an unusually large specimen. Anything above the 500 pound mark is a freakishly gigantic tiger.
M20 ( also called Dale or Misha ) who weighed in at 445 pounds, was considered to be a very large male Amur tiger. Reality check: 445 pounds is indeed one hellova big cat.
So, I would take from this that 600 pounds should be considered as the absolute max-weight for a healthy male Amur tiger living in the wild. Some people claim that historically, Amur tigers were much larger than those living today, due to the decline in prey ungulates. There could possibly be some truth to this, but we must also consider that the tiger population has dropped further than the ungulate population. If there was any weight difference within the Amur tiger population predating the late 19th and early 20th centuries, perhaps the average tiger weights were up, but not likely the max weights.
*Note also, those old sports hunters, just as with those living today or of any given time period, hunted for the sole purpose of collecting trophies with which to boost their inflated egos. It has become a well-known fact that those hunters of old had created fake measuring tapes designed to add length to a tiger's measurements. Therefore, those vintage tiger records cannot be trusted.
So, why do we continuously find stories told of these massive 700 pound tigers roaming the taiga of the Russian Far East and in the forests of China? Both the Bengal and the Amur tigers typically reach about 440 pounds. A 500 pound tiger is an unusually large specimen. Anything above the 500 pound mark is a freakishly gigantic tiger.
M20 ( also called Dale or Misha ) who weighed in at 445 pounds, was considered to be a very large male Amur tiger. Reality check: 445 pounds is indeed one hellova big cat.
So, I would take from this that 600 pounds should be considered as the absolute max-weight for a healthy male Amur tiger living in the wild. Some people claim that historically, Amur tigers were much larger than those living today, due to the decline in prey ungulates. There could possibly be some truth to this, but we must also consider that the tiger population has dropped further than the ungulate population. If there was any weight difference within the Amur tiger population predating the late 19th and early 20th centuries, perhaps the average tiger weights were up, but not likely the max weights.
*Note also, those old sports hunters, just as with those living today or of any given time period, hunted for the sole purpose of collecting trophies with which to boost their inflated egos. It has become a well-known fact that those hunters of old had created fake measuring tapes designed to add length to a tiger's measurements. Therefore, those vintage tiger records cannot be trusted.
