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

[peter]

ON THE EFFECTS OF ALDRICH FOOTSNARES - I

a - Introduction

In 2013, 'The Snare for Tiger' was published on BIGCATS.RU Forums. The article, written by Kolchin (S) and Maystrenko (P), was translated by Alexey Bizin. It was corrected by Vladimir Dinets and Sergey Kolchin. The first part ('Beginning') has 8 pages. The second part ('Ending') has 7 pages, including an Addendum written by G.P. Salkina. As far as I know, it's still on the internet. 

Anyone interested in tigers captured with Aldrich footsnares in the Sichote-Alin Nature Reserve in the period 1992-2010 should read it. Same for those interested in wild Amur tigers allegedly 'killed by other tigers and bears'. The article also has information about 2 tigers captured in other reserves (see -c3-). 

Platon Maystrenko (biologist) and Sergey Kolchin (Phd), to be sure, are not amateurs. Same for Galina Petrovna Salkina (Phd). As Senior Research Fellow, she studied Amur tigers for many years in the Lazovsky Reserve. When the article was published, Kolchin was a Research Assistent at the Laboratory of Ecology and Animals in the Institute of Water and Ecology Problems, Far-Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. He was part of the 'Amur Tiger Project' from October 2007 to Match 2009.
 
b - Intention of the series

I want to make it clear right from the start that all involved in saving wild tigers in some way are unsung heroes. They're the ones who who collected vital information and made sure we still have wild tigers in some regions. In my opinion, all of them deserve respect no matter what. 

Collecting information about wild tigers without a rifle, however, is far from easy. Same for capturing tigers with footsnares. Although not all tigers captured with Aldrich footsnares responded in the same way, some tigers were seriously injured trying to free themselves. It also is a fact that not a few perished in shortly after they had been captured. Finally, it's a fact that this method of capturing tigers affected the tiger population in the Sichote-Alin Reserve. 

The road to knowledge often is rough and rocky. The only way to do it in the right way and, as a result, learn is to record everything you do, including mistakes. In many respects, mistakes and failures are as informative as anything else. Provided you record them and succeed to avoid the usual pitfalls (like denial). The article of Kolchin and Maystrenko is an attempt to uncover incidents that, later, proved to be part of a pattern. It also is a detailed attempt to describe the effects of Aldrich footsnares. 

c - Answers to the questions in the previous post

c1 - Tiger 'Ivan'

In 2008, tigress 'Galya' had 3 maturing cubs. Galya had been captured twice (in 2002 and 2005) and, therefore, succeeded in avoiding traps, but her cubs were not so lucky. Male cub 'Ivan' (no. 88) was caught on May 3, 2008. Ivan Seryodkin told Kolchin he suffered some damage (a dent in a canine) trying to get out of the trap. Ivan's brother 'Clay' was captured on May 23, 2008. When trying to free himself, one of the lower canines broke down to the gum.

On June 17, 2008 a large male tiger was captured. This tiger was also called 'Ivan'. When Seryodkin, Kolchin, Miquelle and Clay Miller approached the tiger, he attacked and broke the binding of the footsnare. Seryodkin, carrying the gun to tranquillize 'Ivan', was bitten in the shoulder. The tiger could have killed him but was afraid of the hand flares and left the scene with a steel snare around his leg. Kolchin found a piece of one of his canines later. Members of the WCS checked the memory stick in Seryodkin's camera. It revealed that Seryodkin had conducted a photo session before his colleagues arrived at the spot. Seryodkin took hundreds of photographs. 

After he had broken the binding and attacked Seryodkin, tiger 'Ivan' managed to get rid of the steel trap around his leg and remained neutral to humans. That changed after he was captured a second time on October 27, 2009. Again he wounded himself trying to get free. A camera-trap picture taken fifty days after he had been captured showed a severely injured and emaciated tiger. On January 15, 2010, he killed a local fisherman. A day later, after he had attacked cars, 'Ivan' was shot. WCS employees, regarding his injuries, said he " ... apparently got into a fight with a bear or another tiger ... " (pp. 6 of the first part) and vets of the Primorskaya State Academy of Agriculture affirmed that view. But they, according to Kolchin and Maystrenko, lacked knowledge of wild animals and were sponsored by the WCS. 

c2 - Were 'Ivan' and tiger T-16 one and the same?

At the moment, I'm unable to answer the question, @tigerluver. I have to read the article you referred to first. There are more documents published in the period 2008-2012 I have to read, as the tigers mentioned in the article of Kolchin and Maystrenko feature in other publications as well. I'll get back to you on that one.

c3 - At what weight does a male Amur tiger start breaking snares?

In the second part of their article, Kolchin and Maystrenko say 'Ivan' wasn't the only male tiger who broke an Aldrich footsnare. In October 2009, John Goodrich was injured by a male tiger who broke the snare in the southwestern part of Primorye. In spring 2011, a mature male tiger also broke the snare and attacked the car with members of the of CAE RAS (they probably refer to members of the Russian Amur Tiger Project started in 2008). 

I don't know which tigers were involved and if they were weighed, but chances are they were not. For now, one has to assume they were not larger than the heaviest weighed in the period 1992-2020 (200-212 kg.). Reply