Fighting tooth and claw to save tigers
Source: Xinhua |
December 1, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN the Wanda Mountains, near the China-Russia border, forest cover is sparse and any animal can be easily seen from up to 500 meters away. It's hard to imagine that this is where Siberian tigers roam, as they usually prefer to skulk in thick forest.
"We used to see roe deer a decade ago, but now, even a squirrel is rare," said Cao Zhiquan, chief of the Qiyuan Forest Farm under the Dongfanghong Forestry Bureau, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Winter is an especially tough season for endangered Siberian tigers. Their prey - mainly red and roe deer as well as wild boar - has become scarce over the years, due to habitat loss and hunting.
The ecology of the Wanda Mountains has deteriorated from over-logging.
Although the Chinese government has started a conservation project, restricting logging of natural forests in 2000, the broken food chain threatens the tiger, said Jiang Guangshun, a senior researcher of China's tiger protection project under the World Wildlife Fund.
"Numbers of red deer, tigers' favorite food, have greatly decreased," said Jiang.
In addition to the worsening environment, poaching poses another threat to tigers in winter, said Qiu Xiaoping, a police officer with border control section in the city of Shuangyashan.
"Paw prints are easier to see in the snow, and once poachers start tracking, it's hard for an animal to escape."
There are only about 20 wild Siberian tigers left in China. Around seven tigers have been found dead since 1993, with most deaths related to human activities.
The latest case was in late October, when a 200kg male tiger's body was found with wire around its neck in a village in Fuyuan, Mishan City.
Last November, 13 countries, including China and Russia, committed to back a tiger recovery program that aims to double the numbers in the wild by 2022.
In the past year, all 13 forestry bureau farms have been allocated part-time tiger observers equipped with cameras and global positioning system devices.
"Anyone finding signs of tigers reports to us," said Gao Kejiang, an observer at Wulindong Forest Farm.
The bureau is also clearing traps that threaten tigers.
"We used to see roe deer a decade ago, but now, even a squirrel is rare," said Cao Zhiquan, chief of the Qiyuan Forest Farm under the Dongfanghong Forestry Bureau, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Winter is an especially tough season for endangered Siberian tigers. Their prey - mainly red and roe deer as well as wild boar - has become scarce over the years, due to habitat loss and hunting.
The ecology of the Wanda Mountains has deteriorated from over-logging.
Although the Chinese government has started a conservation project, restricting logging of natural forests in 2000, the broken food chain threatens the tiger, said Jiang Guangshun, a senior researcher of China's tiger protection project under the World Wildlife Fund.
"Numbers of red deer, tigers' favorite food, have greatly decreased," said Jiang.
In addition to the worsening environment, poaching poses another threat to tigers in winter, said Qiu Xiaoping, a police officer with border control section in the city of Shuangyashan.
"Paw prints are easier to see in the snow, and once poachers start tracking, it's hard for an animal to escape."
There are only about 20 wild Siberian tigers left in China. Around seven tigers have been found dead since 1993, with most deaths related to human activities.
The latest case was in late October, when a 200kg male tiger's body was found with wire around its neck in a village in Fuyuan, Mishan City.
Last November, 13 countries, including China and Russia, committed to back a tiger recovery program that aims to double the numbers in the wild by 2022.
In the past year, all 13 forestry bureau farms have been allocated part-time tiger observers equipped with cameras and global positioning system devices.
"Anyone finding signs of tigers reports to us," said Gao Kejiang, an observer at Wulindong Forest Farm.
The bureau is also clearing traps that threaten tigers.
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