The Siberian tiger is the largest tiger subspecies, weighing more than 200 kilograms. They rely on their thick fur, sharp claws and powerful night vision to wander in the cold forests of the Russian Far East and northeastern China. Another key factor in their survival, personality, is not so easy to detect.

A study published in the Royal Society Open Science on April 4 showed that the psychological makeup of Siberian tigers may affect their hunting, mating, and even social status.

Like other tiger populations, the Siberian tiger is on the verge of extinction due to human poaching, logging and expanding settlements. With only about 500 Siberian tigers left in the wild, a deeper understanding of how they interact with their environment is crucial.

According to Science, a team led by Rosalind Arden, a researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science, turned to 248 Siberians living in two wildlife reserves in northeastern China when exploring the psychology of these ferocious cats. Tiger. The research team invited more than 50 keepers and veterinarians to fill out questionnaires, asking them to use 67 to 70 adjectives to describe the personality traits of each tiger in their care.

Tigers that scored high on words like confident, aggressive, and ambitious were labeled by the researchers as having "majestic" personality traits; those who showed traits such as submissive, tolerant, and gentle, are classified as having "stable" personality traits. Together, these two personality types explained 38% of the variance in tiger behavior in the study.

Based on body weight and eating habits, researchers found that "stately" tigers were generally healthier. They hunt and mate more frequently and have greater reproductive success. Their caretakers say the "dignified" tigers appear to have a higher social status than the "stable" tigers.

The researchers stressed that more evidence is needed to determine why tigers with majestic personality traits perform better.

Arden said: "It may be that the majestic temperament gives the animals an extra advantage, allowing them to take risks. If food is scarce, tigers who are more willing to take risks will hunt one more time per month."

In the animal kingdom, a domineering attitude is not always the key to success. Arden points out that in some primates, such as chimpanzees, cooperative and friendly individuals perform better socially than aggressive individuals. But Siberian tigers make a living by acquiring and defending large territories, which can stretch up to 2,000 square kilometers. In a world where everyone is on the lookout, being aggressive is more important.

Understanding the personalities of the world's largest cats will help protect them in the wild, researchers say, and knowing a particular tiger's personality may help conservationists manage it and nearby residents and livestock. Even interactions with other tigers.