Are Siberian Tigers migrating into Alaska?

Recently, I read two reports that claimed that over population of Siberian Tigers in Russia is forcing some tigers to migrate into Alaska. Mostly young bachelor males roaming in search of food and mates. If you ask US Fish and Wildlife, they will claim that the Tiger does not exist in the USA including Alaska. Yet, at least one Alaskan game warden found tracks in the snow on one of the larger islands and believed they were from a tiger. I am not claiming this is true but it sure sounded plausible to me. A 2024 Alaskan trail cam caught a pic of a large striped cat with markings consistent of a Tiger. That photo was confirmed by fish and wildlife to be a tiger but they claimed it was likely a pet that had escaped captivity. This was the same claim made by KY fish and wildlife when a cougar was killed by game wardens in KY a few years ago. Would be easier to accept the escaped pet claim if the tiger in question had been sighted in St Louis or Dallas.

Tigers are known to be good swimmers and have been observed swimming in icy winter waterways in Siberia. During colder winters much of the Bering strait is frozen over making traverse of the ice easier. The big cats could swim from ice flow to ice flow much like how Polar bears travel in Arctic waters.

So, what caliber is best for use on rogue tigers?

If you were out hunting for Caribou and encountered a Tiger would you shoot it?, walk away? kiss your ass goodby?

We can't be so lucky. I've often thought that some of the Alaskan islands would make a great (and safe!) location for a tiger introduction on to the North American continent.

And Jim Corbett used the 7x57, excuse me, the .275 Rigby and the .450/.400 for his tiger hunting, so I'd be more than happy to make that work.

If they did migrate to Alaska I would hope they wouldn’t be shot so they can form a population, since such migration would be a naturally occurring event.

Leave them be, until the population gets healthy enough to remove a few.

For self defense? Big cats arent known for durability. I imagine any cartridge good enough for caribou will be plenty for a big cat. Bears still scare me more than tigers... Bears scare tigers!

Certus said:

If they did migrate to Alaska I would hope they wouldn’t be shot so they can form a population, since such migration would be a naturally occurring event.

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Yep, we need enough of them to go on a regular tag, and then I would use a 375 or my 416. That 416 was great for lion, and I am certain it would be fantastic for tigers

Togiak National Wildlife Refuge had an April Fools post on Facebook with a snow leopard over there I seem to recall. And another year they had a crocodile. So, it wouldn't surprise me if another year they claimed a tiger.

I won't say it can't happen, but I will say the cards are seriously stacked against it.

First off, the distribution maps I see don't even show their population in Siberia or the Kamchatka peninsula. If they are there's still an awful lot of ocean between the Kamchatka peninsula and any island such as Attu and some serious currents. There's no large game for them to survive on until Adak on the Aleutians and the mainland farther north. I've worked on boats in the Bering sea in the middle of winter and while the ice used to come down, it doesn't much anymore, which is actually an issue. And even up north they'd have a lot of swimming or rough ice just to get to Diomede islands of St Lawrence island and then keep going beyond that. As for a pet, well this state isn't real keen on exotic large animals like that and sneaking one across the Canadian border and back across ours seems just about impossible.

As for hunting them if they did get over. I suppose it depends on how they are classified. There's no limits to 'Deleterious exotic wildlife' and the same goes for any mule and whitetail deer that happen to wander into the state, which has indeed happened with muleys. The only turkeys this state has ever had were some feral ones and ADF&G made it clear they were fair game, wipe 'em out. But a tiger may be considered something different since they are endangered in most of original range.

Just need some decent hunting platforms to shoot off……let me think…..hey doesn’t Southern Africa have an over population of these…..!

WoW problem solved!

Sideshow said:

Just need some decent hunting platforms to shoot off……let me think…..hey doesn’t Southern Africa have an over population of these…..!

WoW problem solved!

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Even better is let’s work on that wooly mammoth cloning project!

This one even comes with @Kevin Peacocke at the helm

Russ16 said:

Even better is let’s work on that wooly mammoth cloning project!

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I think they have a herd of those down in Texas near El Paso, lol

Certus said:

If they did migrate to Alaska I would hope they wouldn’t be shot so they can form a population, since such migration would be a naturally occurring event.

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I’m very sure this hasn’t accrued, interesting & cool thought but as others have said multiple reasons why this isn’t really a reality !

If they did, I think they would be killed or hopefully captured immediately & wouldn’t have any protection.

See Polar Bears are killed immediately when coming ashore in Iceland & over 600 have been recorded since records started, I believe last was 2024, I was surprised they cull them straight away on landing !

There's one cartridge missing from the poll, 6.5 Creedmoor.

I think the issue with the big cats survival would be based on their encounters with the big Bears. Both are highly intelligent predators and placing bets on which one comes out on top is an interesting debate. The Polar and Brown Bears are obviously larger and more powerful, but the cat is faster.

I think the Tigers could survive IF they traveled far enough to find reliable food supplies. Then the obvious problem of finding a mate.

The odds of Tigers migrating and building a breeding population on their own is very, very low.

Their odds if breeding pairs we purposely transplanted would likely be very high.

Sarg said:

I’m very sure this hasn’t accrued, interesting & cool thought but as others have said multiple reasons why this isn’t really a reality !

If they did, I think they would be killed or hopefully captured immediately & wouldn’t have any protection.

See Polar Bears are killed immediately when coming ashore in Iceland & over 600 have been recorded since records started, I believe last was 2024, I was surprised they cull them straight away on landing !

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Doesn’t make sense to me, why remove them from somewhere they are naturally getting to? (Edit: in reference to Icelandic polar bears)
Edit 2: apparently there’s not enough food for them, as well as human safety.

Like crocs in Queensland. Any further south than X they are removed, but historically they occurred further south than that and they’re getting back down there by their own means. Leave em be imo.

Any of those options would work, but why take a chance? 375 or 338 would be the way. If not a 416.

375H&H would be my minimum for such things.

NO, not possible or happening.

Yes, but I think the 458 is better. The is what McKinley used. He was kind of a blowhard, and always claimed he shot the best. If I remember correctly he shot something like 8 or 10 tigers on one Shikar and his traveling companion shot none.

Closest Wild Siberian Tigers​

• Current range: Siberian tigers (Amur tigers) are restricted to the Russian Far East, mainly the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in Primorsky Krai (southwestern part) and southern Khabarovsk Krai, plus a few in northeastern China near the border. Their north-south range spans about 1,000 km (620 miles) along/near the Amur River area.
• This is the southern Russian Far East, far from the northeast (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, opposite Nome).
• Distance estimate: From core habitat around Vladivostok or central Primorsky Krai to the Bering Strait area (e.g., near Provideniya or Anadyr in Chukotka) is roughly 3,000–4,000+ km (1,900–2,500+ miles) straight-line, much farther by land due to terrain.
• There are no established populations (or even regular sightings) in Magadan, Chukotka, or farther north. Historical range extended somewhat farther north/west in the past, but current wild tigers are confined much farther south. No credible records place them in Chukotka.

Tigers are highly unlikely to naturally disperse that far north through unsuitable tundra/taiga without human help (and even then, survival would be tough due to prey scarcity and extreme conditions).

Sea Ice Between Nome and Russia (Bering Strait)​

The Bering Strait (between Alaska's Seward Peninsula/Nome area and Russia's Chukotka, e.g., near Cape Dezhnev) is about 82–85 km (51 miles) wide at the narrowest.

• It does freeze in winter, often forming sea ice that can connect the shores or allow crossings via ice floes/pack ice. People have crossed on foot or with vehicles in some years (e.g., documented crossings in the 2000s). Ice typically forms from late fall/early winter, peaks around March, and breaks up in spring.
• However, it rarely (if ever) freezes into a solid, stable, walkable "bridge" every year due to strong currents, winds, and moving ice packs. Open leads (channels) of water often persist, making it hazardous and unreliable. Ice can be thin or broken up, and conditions vary greatly year to year (with recent trends toward less ice).
• Polar bears and other Arctic animals use the ice, but it's not a reliable land bridge for large terrestrial mammals like tigers to casually wander across.

In short, the closest tigers are thousands of kilometers away in southern Primorsky/southern Khabarovsk Krai, with no realistic path or precedent for them reaching the Bering Strait area. The sea ice is a seasonal, imperfect barrier/connection at best. The "jackass on the net" is almost certainly exaggerating or misunderstanding basic geography and tiger biology.

As much as I’d love to see a Tiger in the wild, there is absolutely no way in hell that there are any Tigers anywhere in Alaska. And if there ever were to be any, they’d never be huntable. The anti’s would have a huge new business opportunity in perpetually litigating Tiger protection.

There are two animals I’d love to be able to hunt but will never have the opportunity and those are a Tiger and a Black Rhino. At least I’ve been fortunate to observe 5 Black Rhinos at close range while hunting in Zimbabwe.

I have an older friend who killed a tiger while on patrol in Viet Nam.

Not exactly hunting, but a 5.56x45 will do the trick!