Adult male suspected in rare encounter involving Siberian tiger, Amur leopard

The prime suspect in a rare tiger-leopard encounter in China's Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park has been identified, according to wildlife experts.

The incident of a tiger killing a leopard happened in the Hunchun area of the national park last month. Experts identified the deceased leopard as Northeast Leopard No 73, and the tiger involved in the incident was preliminarily identified as Northeast Tiger No 112.

Both the Siberian tiger and the Amur leopard are first-class protected wild animals in China, and are classified as endangered and critically endangered species, respectively, due to their extremely low populations.

The Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park is located at the junction of Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. Since the park began protecting their habitats in 2017, the population of tigers has increased from 27 individuals to over 50, while the number of leopards has grown from 42 to over 60.

Feng Limin, deputy director of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard Monitoring and Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said that by measuring the footprints left by the tiger, it was quickly determined that the culprit was a fully grown male, as the width of its hind paw reached 11.5 centimeters. In contrast, female Siberian tigers have smaller body sizes, with hind paw widths below 10 centimeters.

He said that according to the monitoring system of the national park, in the past year, there have been approximately 10 individual tigers in the vicinity of the incident.

"Some of them have settled, some are dispersing and others are just passing through. After excluding eight female tigers, among the two male tigers, Tiger No 112, which arrived here recently, has the closest temporal and spatial activity trajectory to the captured leopard and has been identified as the primary suspect," Feng said.

He explained that Tiger No 112 left its birthplace this year and started to travel northward, arriving in this area. It is highly likely that it encountered the leopard unexpectedly and subsequently killed it.

The expert group is conducting a final confirmation through the collection and comparison of DNA samples.

After the incident, concerns were raised regarding the safety of the surrounding residents.

According to a China Central Television report, the core area of tiger and leopard activity in the park is approximately 20 kilometers from residential areas. The park management bureau has publicized and warned about the tiger's activity area, and workers engaging in activities around the area have taken precautions to minimize the risk of attacks.

Liu Junyu, captain of the Forest Crime Investigation Brigade of Hunchun Forest Public Security Sub-bureau, said in an interview with CCTV, "It is precisely because of the increase in the population of the tigers that rare natural phenomena like tigers preying on leopards have occurred. This incident serves as an important reminder for us to further strengthen the isolation between humans and wild animals and prevent human-wildlife conflicts in the tiger and leopard distribution areas and their surroundings."