- •Английский язык "Российский Дальний Восток"
- •Российский дальний восток
- •Предисловие
- •I. The geography of the russian far east
- •The geography of the Russian Far East
- •Flora and fauna of the Russian Far East
- •Mineral resources. Population
- •Vocabulary:
- •Act out the dialogue or continue the boys’ talk about the Russian Far East. Ex. 14. Do you know that:
- •Ask questions to the points above.
- •Vocabulary:
- •II. The khabarovsky krai
- •The Khabarovsky Krai
- •Vocabulary:
- •III. The economy of the russian far east General Economic Profile of the Russian Far East
- •Vocabulary:
- •Extra information on the economy of the russian far east Resource Potential
- •Agriculture
- •Industry
- •Construction
- •Transport
- •Foreign Relationships of the Russian Far East
- •Vocabulary:
- •The economy of the khabarovsky krai
- •Ex. 6. Complete the sentences, using modal verbs or their equivalents in correct tense-forms:
- •Vocabulary:
- •The Russian Far East economy through the figures
- •Magadanskaya Oblast Sahalinskaya Oblast
- •Koryaksky Autonomous Chukotsky Autonomous Okrug Okrug
- •Jewish Autonomous Oblast Republic of Sakha (Yakutiya)
- •IV. Study the additional information about the russian far east When did the pioneers first appear in the Far East?
- •What geographical discoveries were made as the pioneers went on their travels?
- •Who was Bering after whom a sea, a strait and an island were named?
- •From the history of the Far East
- •The history of the origin of the Far Eastern Minority Tribes
- •Mighty Amur
- •Two banks of one river: Russia and China. Problems of ecology
- •Amur tiger
- •Far Eastern leopard
- •Kunst and Alberts
- •V. Check your knowledge test "the khabarovsky krai"
- •Crossword I
- •Crossword II Down:
- •Contents
Amur tiger
In Russia, the tiger occurs in a small area of the extreme Far East of the country. It inhabits the coniferous and broadleaf forests of the Primorsky Krai and the Khabarovsky Krai, mainly on the eastern or right bank of the Ussury and Amur rivers. The northern most boundary of its distribution is located to the south of Khabarovsk City.
The subspecies of the Amur tiger (Latin: Panthera tigris altaica) is distributed only in the extreme Far East of Russia. The Amur tiger differs from other tiger companion subspecies because of its large size and thick winter fur.
Our tigers possess great individual variability in size, especially males which may continue growing even after reaching adulthood. On average, the length of a full grown male can be up to 290 centimeters and their weight can be 260 kilograms or even more. One giant tiger has been recorded with the weight of 390 kilograms and the length of more than three meters. Female tigers are of lesser size, with an average length of 160 to 180 centimeters and a weight of 140 to 160 kilograms.
Tiger's tracks are frequently seen along any road within coniferous-broadleaf forests in the Bekinsky, Vyazemsky, Lazo and Nanaysky regions of the Khabarovsky Krai. A small number of tigers inhabit nearer to the city of Khabarovsk in the Bolshekhektzirsky State Reserve Area.
Amur tigers can withstand very low temperatures comparatively easy. Thick winter fur and under-skin fat on the abdomen, which is up to lour to five centimeters thick, allows the animal to lie comfortably on the snow for long periods, when chasing its prey, the predator races swift, making leaps of three to four meters long, and leaping over obstacles of two to three meters high. A tiger can even turn in the air while leaping and change direction to follow its prey. When the tiger catches its prey, it grabs half of the body with its fore paws and usually kills it immediately by biting through the prey's neck vertebras. At this moment the tiger is highly excited and begins pulling the kill around for dozens of meters, apparently in order to calm down. Once the excitement has passed, the tiger will lie near the kill licking itself. Afterwards the big predator can pull its prey further on perhaps for a few hundred meters, even up to one kilometer, depending on the size of the kill. The tiger will only stop to make a feast under the cover of thick forest far from the eyes of crows.
Almost all big and middle size species of mammals become prey for tigers in the Khabarovsky Krai. The tiger is at the top of the food chain and can hunt wild boar, the deer species such as izuber, roe buck and musk deer-plus brown bears and Himalayan bears, badgers, raccoon dogs and hares. However, the preferred food, the real "passion" of tigers, is young and middle sized wild boar.
Tigers become mature and ready to breed at the age of three to four years old. The breeding season usually occurs during January and February. One male may visit two or three females. During this "wedding season", males often have ferocious fights between themselves which sometimes end in the death of one of the rivals.
The total current population of Amur tigers within the Khabarovsky Krai is 65 to 70 animals, half of them are grown-up or semi-adults. Around 400 animals can be met in the Primorsky Krai and there maybe a few more on the border with Korea.