Survival Requirements for the Siberian Tiger

Land

• Siberian tigers evolved to hunt over vast stretches of land. One male Siberian tiger's territory averages 4000 square miles. He needs such a large territory for food, for hiding places in order to pounce on prey. Females hold smaller territories that overlap with a male's. Siberian tigers do not live in prides like lions but come together only to breed. Siberian tigers will kill other tigers that invade their territories. Setting aside land for tigers also would ensure land for their prey species and any plant species in the area.

Food

• Each adult Siberian tiger eats up to 60 lb. of meat per day, according to National Geographic. Tigers prefer to hunt large prey such as elk, wild boar and roe deer. But when starving, tigers will hunt smaller prey -- even mice or fish. But a tiger can potentially burn off more calories hunting a mouse than the mouse can provide and can still starve.

End to Poaching

• People hunt Siberian tigers, even though this is illegal in most countries through the UN's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Tiger skins and parts fetch high prices on the black market, especially for reselling as traditional Chinese medicine. Wild tiger females are killed for their cubs, which are sold into the exotic pet market. Unless poaching and trade in tiger parts and cubs ends, Siberian tigers will become extinct. Tigers reproduce slowly. Females only produce one to three cubs every four years. They cannot replace poached tigers quickly enough to keep a stable population.

Genetic Diversity

• Because of the loss of land, small pockets of tigers are left in small areas. This causes inbreeding and weakening of the species. Inbred animals are more prone to disease. Healthy animals travel wide areas in order to breed with genetically different partners. In 2011, scientists announced that despite an estimated 400 to 500 Siberian tigers left in the wild, they were highly inbred. Saving large tracts of land would also allow genetically diverse captive-bred Siberian tigers to be returned to the wild and strengthen the gene pool.