Experts from the Leopard Land National Park have obtained some fascinating video recordings of Amur tigers, which came from using camera traps set up on a birch tree over the past six months. The videos showed two Amur tigers trying to prove their superiority over one another by resorting to cunning ploys. One predator marked the territory by leaving huge claw marks on the tree bark. The videos showed the animal jump at the tree and grab it with all four paws, so that the claw marks would seem bigger than they really are.

The tiger also rubbed his nose against the tree and left his scent there. At the end of each video, he marked the tree using the standard animal method. Scientists who know that animals demarcate their respective habitats believe that all videos show one and the same male. However, by comparing the tiger’s stripes in the videos, they realised that another tiger marked the tree on one of the seven occasions.

Yelena Salmanova, Deputy Director for Research and Environmental Education at the Leopard Land National Park, said tigers leave claw marks along the perimeters of their habitats. Therefore, there is reason to believe that the second male came there because the tree is located on the border between the two habitats. Or, perhaps, a young and inexperienced tiger wandered into the area.

Scientists noted that other animals, including stags, boars and foxes, also visited the tree during several months of observations. The animals cautiously sniffed the tiger’s domain and ran away. Only an Asian black bear rubbed its back and abdomen against the tree in order to erase the tiger marks.