Day 311/19. Apex predator.

This is 'Milla' the adult female Amur (or Siberian) Tiger at Marwell Zoo enjoying lunch.
Amur tigers were on the brink of extinction in the 1930s, with only 20 - 30 animals surviving. Hunting of the tigers was banned in 1947, and this led to the species making a great recovery. The population today is estimated to number between 400 and 500 individuals, but this number is falling (even though they have no natural predators), mainly due to poaching but also because of their prey species being hunted. They are also at risk from forest fires and habitat loss.
These few Amur Tigers left in the wild are found in the Russian Far East and north-eastern China. In the winter these tigers have to cope with temperatures that may be as low as -34 degrees Celsius!
So our winters are nothing to them.