If there was a population of Siberian tigers left to their own devices in a good chunk of Northwest American or Canada could they thrive in that environment if not hunted by man?
Sure. The mountain lions in southern California have made a comeback, I don’t see why tigers couldn’t survive in the northwest.
The real question here is after they eat some Seattleites, would they be up all night?
OK, so I have decided to open TigerLand in Washington State (or maybe BC), how much acreage do you think I would need for say 100 tigers?
(Oddly I have long wanted to know this, although never to the point of wanting to look it up.)
Unless you’re willing to crowd the beasties, a lot:
At the highest measured density, you’d need 595 square kilometers, 230 square miles, for your 100 tigers.
Note also that there are already top predators in the areas. Wolves and grizzlies. Ought to make for some interesting territorial competitions.
Siberian tigers could unquestionably live in northern Canada; it’s pretty much the same terrain as Siberia. There’s about fifty gazillion deer running around that would make excellent meals; Canada’s population of game is more than enough to satisfy tigers, who individually eat a hell of a lot, but spread themselves out thinly. There’s a lot of room in northern B.C.
In fact, the thought occurred to me just the other day that you could save the Siberian’s existence in the wild by doing exactly this. Canada would probably do a much better job protecting them than Russia would.
However, you’d run the risk of screwing up the existing balance. What if you push wolves out of the balance? Or grizzlies? And frankly, tigers are dangerous; they’ll eat people given half a chance. Sooner or later, someone will end up as Tony’s lunch, and you’re facing a zillion dollar lawsuit the first time someone gets eaten. So it would be a problematic experiment on several levels.
As long as I continue taking my homeopathic remedy that keeps tigers away we are all safe.
I take that, too. And it works! No tigers ever come near my house.
All well and good if the prey density NW North America was the same as that of the study area in India, Since it is a much colder climate, I think your estimate is way off.
No cite, but In their native habitat, male Siberian tigers probably have huge home ranges due to the lower prey densities.
i have thought that seeding some islands off the east and west coast that are uninhabited with sibs would be an interesting expierment. 2 tigers per island boy and girl. put a herd or two of white tails deer on the island as well. as the tigers reproduce you put the cubs on an empty island and so on.
save the tiger and have a place to export the huge population of deer as well.
then i remembered tigers like to swim…
If I spot a news report that tigers have gone missing from Canadian zoos,you will be the first suspect 
Tyger, tyger, swimming strong
through the grey Canadian dawn.
What fearful northern wolf or bear
Would dare to muss your striped hair?
very good, squink, i like that a lot.
Remembering a cartoon from Calvin and Hobbes-
Calvin to Dad: So Dad, what do I do when I catch a tiger?
Dad: Bring it home and stuff it, Calvin! Can’t you see I’m busy?
Hobbes in kitchen: No, really, I couldn’t eat another bite!
Siberian tigers (as mentioned) have larger ranges than tigers in India; (125-250 square miles for females; 500-620 square miles for males). If you have 25 males, each of whose range overlaps with that of 3 females, then you’re talking twelve to fifteen thousand square miles. (And ranges of up to several thousand square miles have been reported for some individuals.)
They’d do OK in Las Vegas, provided they were OK with sequined jumpsuits and the “sit” and “stay” commands…
And a LINK to the full poem.
