Internet videos on the friendship of a tiger and a goat in a Siberian park have gone viral. Here's one of those videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEr...

They were introduced to each other as adults. The goat was supposed to be the tiger's lunch. The tiger has already killed and eaten hundreds of live goats and rabbits before, as his usual meals.

This is also how some people manage to act as wild animal tamers, and children in places with large wildlife populations are taught from an early age that when encountering a large predator, the best response is to freeze rather than attempt to flee, and to try to show no fear - even to respond with belligerence, if the animal seems to be about to attack (though showing willingness for a peaceful standoff is preferable, if the animal shows no imminent plans to attack).

Very much the same strategies work with humans too, btw: when you're dealing with a belligerent drunk, or a bully, your best chance is always to act at least equally fearless and potentially dangerous. You send the message 'beware, I'm not prey, I'm another predator'. :)

Happy belated New Year to you too, <Annie>!

I see you and <Switch> are on duty right from the get-go, informing punters what the actual rules are for nominating and voting on the <Caissars>.

Well, either that or 'obstructionist', depending on one's POV. ;)

<Annie> speaking of POV, there <kitez kams> in this video here which would be of interest to the Kitez enthusiast or Kitez wildlife biologist alike.

I hope no kitez were hurt during the filming of this video! The owners used something called a "go pro camera" which I assume (hope) is lightweight. The kitez in question don't seem to be concerned about them.

I actually watched the whole video, because I really was curious to know what kitez *actually* do when their owners leave the house...

Ooh I see you edited your post since I read it.

Also, WRT the video, I wouldn't call their behavior 'normal' - both cats are obviously put out by the weights around their necks, and more nervous than usual. Seeing the other cat wearing something with bright lights on it (they can't see their own) probably doesn't help either.

<Annie> good kitez eye.

I'd go so far as to suggest that your analysis should be posted on the actual video comments section.

I only watched once, and on first viewing it seemed to me that the kitez were having fun chasing each other, but a nervy aggression, fueled by annoying lights, does seem more likely eh?

Perhaps it should also be good for the owners to remember that kitez are not toys that you can do experiments with that they might not enjoy so much.

On a semi-related topic, what do you think of the habit of some owners to put clothes on their kitez and dogz?

I see this a lot in Korea, and on really cold days it seems to make sense, but I wonder how the animals feel. I suspect dogz don't mind so much, but possibly kitez would be more likely to feel annoyed.

I'm just imagining the reaction of my late kitez roomate <Ethel> if I had ever tried to dress her in some kind of clothing. I think she would have tried to bite my face off.

I'm glad your current kitez situation is that they like one another!!

My mother has often had several cats at the same time, and sometimes the mix has been fine, but there have a few disasters in the past.

Nine years ago there she had six kitez, and one was dead set on driving all the other ones out. The problem was that this kitez was my Mom's favorite.

Now, regarding the Bookie Admin page. During the Fall 2015 leg, I could actually get access to that page, but just now, <cg> kicked me out. However, during the Fall 2015 leg, I could've messed around with the system (making bets, paying off bets), but I obviously didn't (who would).

My question (just out of curiosity), can you still access that page?

You shouldn't have had access last leg either, but I guess I know what happened - we were in a hurry to set up the leg, so Daniel must have just left the Bookie password as it was to save time. He is actually supposed to change it after every leg, and obviously did now. >

What I actually mean is access to the bookie admin page, the page where you can make bets.

In most cases, that normal-account access was revoked when it was no longer needed; but it's not exactly a huge security problem that in this case it was only revoked now. It's entirely possible that Daniel did it on purpose; actually, I'm surprised he revoked it now - rather than, say, a week or two from now, when <WinKing>'s had a chance to learn the ropes and settle in - since new Bookies may need help to begin with.

<Stonehenge> brilliant, thanks! :D

Yes, it's possible he didn't intend previous Bookies to have that access for several extra months; but if so, his oversight caused no harm. Worse things have happened on this site than <Penguincw> accessing the bookie-admin page to look up closing times.

The answer below seems reasonable.

http://carnivoraforum.com/topic/965...

Bears are fantastic animals - so ancient as to be almost "primal" - I'd reckon few sounds are as hardwired to sound terrifying to humans as a bear growl - yet they are also very intelligent.

That would be nice. However, from reading the article below, it's apparent that Siberian Tigers often get into trouble food-wise during winter, especially when their ungulate prey supply is getting decimated by human activity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siber...

Some excerpts.

<Prey species of Siberian tigers include Manchurian wapiti, musk deer, goral, moose, red deer, Siberian roe deer, sika deer, wild pig, Asian black bear, Ussuri brown bear and smaller species like hares, rabbits, pikas and salmon.[9][17][28]

Between January 1992 and November 1994, 11 tigers were captured, fitted with radio-collars and monitored for more than 15 months in the eastern slopes of the Sikhote-Alin mountain range. Results of this study indicate that their distribution is closely associated with distribution of red deer, while distribution of wild pigs was not such a strong predictor for tiger distribution. Although they prey on both Siberian roe deer and sika deer, overlap of these ungulates with tigers was low. Distribution of moose was poorly associated with tiger distribution. The distribution of preferred habitat of key prey species was an accurate predictor of tiger distribution.[17]

Results of a three-year study on Siberian tigers indicate that the mean interval between their kills and estimated prey consumption varied across seasons: during 2009 to 2012, three adult tigers killed prey every 7.4 days in summer and consumed a daily average of 7.89 kg (17.4 lb); in winter they killed more large-bodied prey, made kills every 5.7 days and consumed a daily average of 10.3 kg (23 lb).[29]

When all sizes of prey are abundant, Siberian tigers prefer to target smaller prey. There are frequent reports of Siberian tigers preying on adult moose and bears weighing over 450 kg (990 lb).[10]

Following a decrease of ungulate populations from 1944 to 1959, more than 32 cases of Amur tigers attacking both brown and Asian black bears were recorded in the Russian Far East, and hair of bears were found in several tiger scat samples. Tigers attack Asian black bears less often than brown bears, as latter live in more open habitat and are not able to climb trees. In the same time period, four cases of brown bears killing female and young tigers were reported, both in disputes over prey and in self-defense. Tigers can tackle bears larger than themselves, using an ambushing tactic and jumping on to the bear from an overhead position, grabbing it by the chin with one fore paw and by the throat with the other, and then killing it with a bite in the spinal column. Tigers mainly feed on the bear's fat deposits, such as the back, hams, and groin.[8]

Amur tigers regularly prey on young bears and sub-adult brown bears. Reports of preying on fully grown small female adult Ussuri brown bears by a big male tiger are common as well.[10][28] Predation by tigers on denned brown bears was not detected during a study carried between 1993 and 2002.[30] Ussuri brown bears, along with the smaller Asian black bears constitute up to 40.7% of the Siberian tiger's diet.[31] Brown bears alone constitute up to 18.5% of their diet depending on the locations.>

Seems that tigers prefer to hunt red deer, followed by wild pigs; but in winter are forced to hunt bears. It's a dangerous endeavor as the following excerpt shows:

<During telemetry research in the Sikhote-Alin protected area, 44 direct confrontations between the two predators were observed, in which brown bears were killed in 22 cases, and tigers in 12 cases.[36] Bears frequently track down tigers to usurp their kills, with fatal outcomes for the tiger.[37] There are reports of Brown bears specifically targeting Amur tigers and leopards to abstract their prey. In the Sikhote-Alin reserve, 35% of tiger kills were stolen by bears, with tigers either departing entirely or leaving part of the kill for the bear.[38] A report from 1973 describes twelve known cases of brown bears killing tigers; in all cases the tigers were eaten by the bears.>

It occurs to me that there is a bear that you can actually adopt in your house.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSl...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRP...