ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[peter]

ABOUT TIGERS AND HUMANS IN THE KHABAROVSK KRAI IN THE SPRING OF 2023

We've been discussing the size of tigers in the Khabarovsk Krai, but it seems tigers living in that part of the Russian Federation have other things on their mind. Meaning there's trouble. Before entering that department, it doesn't seem superfluous to start with a bit of context. 

At the turn of the century, wild tigers in Asia were walking the edge. Of extinction, that is. The attempt to keep them here resulted in a lot of publicity, research, quite a few meetings, new reserves and more cooperation between countries that still have a few wild tigers. In the end, it was decided to try to double the number of wild tigers within a decade. 

The Russian government, fully aware of the status of the iconic Amur tiger, decided to declare tiger conservation a priority. It had a result. New reserves and national parks (like the Anyuysky National Park) were created, the legal framework to deal with poachers was adapted and more research was conducted. Today, most of those in the know think there are about 650-750 wild Amur tigers in the Russian Far East. A remarkable achievement without doubt.  

Tigers are apex predators, meaning they need a complete and healthy (referring to enough room, cover, water and prey animals) ecosystem to survive. The Russian Far East offers all of it and Amur tigers responded, meaning the population increased. As a result, they, once again, started moving north (to the southern districts of the Khabarovsk Krai), west (towards Trans Baikal), and south (towards the northeastern districs of northeastern China). In China, like in the Russian Federation, tiger conservation was declared a priority. A large new reserve was created, the local population was asked to assist and a lot of research was conducted. Today, there are about 50-70 Amur tigers in northeastern China. Miquelle thinks northeastern China could accomodate up to 300 tigers in the near future. Tiger numbers also increased in the southern districts of the Khabarovsk Krai. Today, there are at least 140 tigers in that part of the Russian Far East. 

Living with wild tigers isn't easy at the best of times, especially if they have been absent for a long period of time. This means it's important to inform the local population. Up to 2015 or thereabout, things went quite well meaning the number of conflicts between tigers and humans was relatively low. When the number of tigers kept growing and the conditions quite suddenly deteriorated, however, the number of conflicts sharply increased. There are many reasons, but two seem to stand out. 

The first of these is volatile natural conditions. In the Russian Far East, conditions change from year to year. Not seldom, they're quite violent. In the second half of the second decade of this century, there was an outbreak of the African swine plague. As a result, the wild boar population collapsed. For tigers, this was a big problem. Five years later, the number of wild boars is still very low. More often than before, tigers, in order to make ends meet, enter villages to hunt dogs. As a result, the number of confrontations with humans increased. Most unfortunately, there have been accidents with a fatal outcome. 

The second, more severe, problem is logging. More logging results in more (logging) roads, meaning tiger country will open up. One direct result is more accidents and another is more poaching. In one winter close to the village of Arsenyevo, 3 tigers were killed by cars (and trucks). Another was found floating in a river close to the village. Another, more indirect, result of logging is prey animals leave for greener pastures. The reason is logging firms focus on the most valuable trees. Over time, this will result in less forest products. Less prey animals leave tigers with less resources, meaning they need to invest more energy in finding more alert prey animals. Adults seem to be able to cope, but youngsters, including young adults, pay. And they pay hard. If tigers struggle for a long period of time, chances are desperation enters at one stage or another. If it does, chances are humans will be affected sooner or later.    

Here's (the link to) an interesting article (written by Irina Kravtsova and published by the Novaja Gazeta Europe in April 2023) about the situation in the Khararovsk Krai. Tiger authorities (like Batalov, Kolchin, Lukarevsky and a few others) feature. It's a good read that has a few links to other articles for extras:               
    
https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2023/04...me-away-en

The message, to keep it short, is there's a problem in the southern districts of the Khabarovsk Krai. Logging is a big part of it, but the African swine plague made it much more acute. As the situation (referring to a lack of prey animals in particular) has been lasting for a number of years now, it had an effect. One could say too many tigers compete for too few prey animals. Although youngsters in particular pay, adults are feeling the pressure as well. This is the reason (desperate) tigers visit villages more often than 5 year ago and it's the reason the number of conflicts has tripled in that period. It's important to address the problem, because it affects the support needed to succeed.   

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year! Reply