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Social structure and space use of Amur tigers ( Panthera tigris altaica ) in Southern Russian Far East based on GPS telemetry data
Author(s) -
HERNANDEZBLANCO Jose A.,
NAIDENKO Sergei V.,
CHISTOPOLOVA Maria D.,
LUKAREVSKIY Victor S.,
KOSTYRYA Alexey,
RYBIN Alexandr,
SOROKIN Pavel A.,
LITVINOV Mikhail N.,
KOTLYAR Andrey K.,
MIQUELLE Dale G.,
ROZHNOV Viatcheslav V.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
integrative zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 1749-4877
DOI - 10.1111/1749-4877.12140
Subject(s) - panthera , territoriality , home range , geography , range (aeronautics) , demography , tiger , sex ratio , ecology , predation , biology , habitat , population , materials science , computer security , sociology , computer science , composite material
To better understand the spatial structure of Amur tigers ( Panthera tigris altaica ) at the southern edge of their range we fitted 14 tigers (6♀♀ and 8♂♂) with 15 GPS‐Argos collars between 2008 and 2011 in 2 study sites: the Ussuriskii Reserve of southern Sikhote‐Alin and the Land of the Leopard National Park in southwest Primorye, Russian Far East. Fixed kernel estimates of male home ranges were larger than those of female home ranges ( P < 0.05 [mean 95% fixed kernel ♀ = 401 ± 205 km 2 ; mean 95% fixed kernel ♂ = 778 ± 267 km 2 ]). The home range size of females varied greatly, but on average was similar to estimates derived from earlier work further north. Low overlap of adjacent home ranges suggested that females retained exclusive territories. Real core areas of females overlapped only slightly, and remained stable over multiple years. The home ranges of adult males were smaller than those of males to the north, and in contrast to previous studies, high overlap among males indicated the absence of territoriality. Nonetheless, real core areas of males did not overlap, suggesting some spatial separation. In comparison to other tiger populations and other areas of the Russian Far East, the sex ratio in our 2 study areas was highly skewed towards males. We believe this skewed sex ratio resulted in the dissolution of territoriality of males due to an inability to defend individual females, with males resorting to scramble competition for mates. Continued monitoring of these sites to determine whether shifts in the sex ratio might result in a return to male territoriality would provide confirmation of our tentative hypothesis.