Of the six surviving subspecies of tiger, the Amur is the only one
habituated to arctic conditions. In addition to having a larger skull than
other subspecies, it carries more fat and a heavier coat, and these give it a
rugged, primitive burliness that is missing from its sleeker tropical
cousins. The thickly maned head can be as broad as a man’s chest and
shoulders, and winter paw prints are described using hats and pot lids for
comparison. As the encyclopedic reference Mammals of the Soviet Union
puts it, “The general appearance of the tiger is that of a huge physical
force and quiet confidence, combined with a rather heavy grace.”^6 But
one could just as easily say: this is what you get when you pair the agility
and appetites of a cat with the mass of an industrial refrigerator.
To properly appreciate such an animal, it is most instructive to start at
the beginning: picture the grotesquely muscled head of a pit bull and then
imagine how it might look if the pit bull weighed a quarter of a ton. Add
to this fangs the length of a finger backed up by rows of slicing teeth
capable of cutting through the heaviest bone. Consider then the claws: a
hybrid of meat hook and stiletto that can attain four inches along the
outer curve, a length comparable to the talons on a velociraptor. Now,
imagine the vehicle for all of this: nine feet or more from nose to tail, and
three and a half feet high at the shoulder. Finally, emblazon this beast
with a primordial calligraphy: black brushstrokes on a field of russet and
cream, and wonder at our strange fortune to coexist with such a creature.
(The tiger is, literally, tattooed: if you were to shave one bald, its stripes
would still be visible, integral to its skin.) Able to swim for miles and kill
an animal many times its size, the tiger also possesses the brute strength
to drag an awkward, thousand-pound carcass through the forest for fifty
or a hundred yards before consuming it.
A tiger may greet a mate or a cub with a gentle nuzzle, but it meets its
prey paws-first. The tiger’s forepaws differ from the hind ones in that
they are larger with five claws arranged in an almost handlike spread. By
contrast, the hind paws have only four claws. In addition to walking,
running, and climbing, the forepaws can serve as twin maces, enabling a