Do prey availability, human disturbance and habitat structure drive the daily activity patterns of Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica)?

Abstract

The daily activities of animals are influenced by various factors, including their physiological adaptations and preferred habitat distributions, as well as prey availability and human disturbances. For felids, the main drivers of activity patterns appear to be prey availability and anthropogenic disturbances, as suggested by previous studies. In this study, we explore a set of variables that influence the activity patterns of Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) in Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces in north‐east China near south‐western Primorsky Krai, Russia. This area is currently the only occupied tiger habitat in China. Prey availability (e.g. wild boar, sika deer and roe deer), human disturbances (e.g. human activity, distance to human settlements and intense forest livestock grazing), and habitat structure were analysed. Our results revealed crepuscular and nocturnal activity of Amur tigers. Although the temporal overlaps between the tigers and their prey species were high, the spatial overlap indices were low. Although the presence of tigers decreased near human settlements, tigers showed a preference for walking along roads. Tigers also avoided high‐elevation coniferous and mixed hardwood forests. Overall, our results indicated that (1) tigers spatially and temporally avoided human disturbances and tigers respond behaviourally to human disturbances and (2) human disturbances may determine the activity of Amur tigers in north‐east China. In the future, to address conflicts between tigers and local humans and to improve tiger conservation, conservation planning should incorporate the spatio‐temporal activity patterns of tigers and humans.

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