Amur Tigers

[Apex Titan]

The tigress moved from Russia to China through the Amur on April 9, and returned to her homeland only on July 29. During the Asian tour, the safety of Lazovka was monitored by Chinese colleagues who were in constant contact with the specialists of the Amur Tiger Center. The data on the movement of the predator comes from the GPS collar.

The reason for Lazovka's long voyage to the Celestial Empire is a mystery. On this score, Russian and Chinese specialists have only theories. It is authentically known that the tigress traveled with at least one tiger cub and successfully procured food for herself during the entire journey, though not always wild animals.

Numerous "clusters" formed on the territory of China indicate the high hunting skills of the tigress. This is what experts call the accumulation of geolocation points from a GPS collar, which indicates a long stay of the animal in one place. The predator has obtained food and does not move far from the "trophy" until it has completely consumed it. The presence of a tiger cub (or two!) Is confirmed by the footprints left by the predator and its offspring on wet ground, as well as photographs received by specialists from China. Data is being exchanged for a comprehensive analysis. 

“Tigress Lazovka continues to amaze us. “Restless lady,” as experts jokingly call her, differs from other reintroduced female Amur tigers by the duration of the transmitter's operation on her collars and by the fact that she changed her hunting area, which seemed to have been formed earlier. - comments the Director General of the Amur Tiger Center Sergei Aramilev.- The number of ungulates on the territory of Russia in its habitats is quite high, so the reason for changing the site is definitely not "hunger", but what? We'll figure out. Thanks to cooperation with colleagues from the PRC, we received data on its clusters and soon they will be given photographs to us, which may allow us to get closer to the solution. It should be noted that the territory of the PRC in that area is suitable for the Amur tiger and the level of protection there is at the proper level, since the tigers returned alive. The demarche of Lazovki suggests that the disappeared Ilona could not have died, but simply changed the site and therefore left the Khingansky reserve. In general, the more we learn about tigers, the more we realize that we don’t know much. ”

The mystery of the tigress's behavior remains to be unraveled. Now Lazovka is already in Russia, and not to say that the return went smoothly.

On July 25, she crossed the Sino-Russian border, made a "circle of honor" along the border area and on July 29, on the International Day of the Tiger, crossed the Amur in the opposite direction. This time the visit was short, only 6-8 hours. By the evening of the same day, she returned to Russia and immediately formed a new cluster.

In the near future, as soon as the tigress moves away from the cluster to a safe distance, specialists will visit the hunting site. In addition to the new Lazovka site, specialists from the Amur Tiger Center, the Tiger Center MRPO and the EAO Hunting Surveillance Service will conduct a field verification of the habitats of tigers previously returned to the wild and check the previously installed camera traps.

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“After spending about 4 months in China, the tigress Lazovka formed her stable area, and we were happy to receive photographs of her two cubs with the help of camera traps (information about two cubs has not yet been reliably confirmed - ed.). The National Forestry and Rangelands Administration and local authorities have placed great emphasis on the observation and protection of the tiger family. Frequent sightings of tigers in the Little Khingan Mountain region of China indicate that the region has become an important habitat for tigers thanks to a highly productive forest that provides shelter for animals and an abundance of ungulates. It and tiger habitats in Russia will form an important transboundary tiger habitat in the future. China and Russia need to strengthen their work on the development of joint practical measures in the field of information exchange, nature protection, the creation of international ecological corridors, etc. ", - comments Professor Jiang Guangshun(Jiang Guangshun), executive director of the Feline Research Center of the National Forestry and Rangeland Administration of China.

The interaction of Russian and Chinese specialists in tracking the movements of the tigress Lazovka once again emphasized the importance of international cooperation in the conservation and study of the tiger population. This direction will become one of the main topics for discussion at the upcoming second International Forum on Tiger Conservation, which will be held in September 2022 in Vladivostok.


It should be noted that the monitoring of reintroduced tigers in the Jewish Autonomous Region is carried out with the participation and financial and technical support of the Amur Tiger Center.


According to experts, currently the group of tigers in the Jewish Autonomous Region numbers about 20 individuals, including tiger cubs. The steady increase in the number of tigers in the region was made possible by periodic releases of reintroduced individuals in the area to create a stable group at the border of the historical range. In different years in the region, only with the support of the Amur Tiger Center, 3 individuals of the Amur tiger were released:  Philip  and  Lazovka, as well as the Saikhan tiger.

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