Thank you Karen for this wonderful tiger medallion.

Native to Siberia which is a very cold and harsh land, covered with snow for most of the year. The Siberian tiger has a very large hunting territory due to lack of prey. Only one in ten hunting trips are successful.

The male and female tigers are solitary animals. They both have their own hunting territories, and they both mark their territories the same, by spraying their urine and scratching trees. The female will not defend her territory, but the male is an aggressive defender. He will be patient of other tigers passing through, he is more tolerant of females, because they usually have their cubs with them.

The Siberian tiger's diet consists of deer, wild pig and occasionally fish. He needs to east at least 20 lbs of meat a day to survive the cold climate of his environment. The tiger can eat up to 100 lbs of meat at one meal.

The tiger is much like other wildcats: they stalk their prey, and when there is a chance of success at a meal, they pounce on their victims and deliver a bite to the neck and suffocate the prey. When the tiger has had a successful kill, he will drag his prey to hide it from other predators.

He then will rest and eat his deserved meal. If he is unable to eat all of his catch at one setting, he will cover it and take a nap. When he awakes he will finish off his meal.

The female is ready to mate for three to seven days every two years. The male will usually find the female by her signs of urine deposits and tree scratches. But due to the large area, the female may have to go find her mate. The female will carry her cubs for three to three and a half months.

She then delivers a litter of three to four kittens, in a well protected den. The kittens are born blind and will open their eyes at about two weeks. The female tiger feeds the cubs until they reach five to six months of age.

At this time they are able to go with her on hunting trips. The cubs are able to hunt for themselves when they are a year old. The cubs continue to stay with their mother until they are three to five years old. They will leave to find their own territories and mates.