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

[peter]

SIBERIAN TIGER QUEST (2012)

a - Introduction

Although Amur tigers feature in many documentaries, footage of wild Amur tigers is rare. Make that very rare. In 2005, the situation changed when Sun Yong Park (apologies if a mistake was made) emerged from the frozen forest. He wasn't your typical filmmaker. According to Morgan, Park studied literature. At the end of the last century or thererabout, he was sent to southeastern Russia by the Korean Educational Television. The aim was a documentary about Amur tigers. 

Park, a very serious man, took his time to gather information. After many months of hiking, he knew where to find wild boars and deer. When he had located them, he also knew where to find tigers. Although one hide featured in his great documentary, he had more than one. The hide that featured in his documentary was a small hole in the ground. In that hole, he lived and slept. At times, he was there for months.

After a long time, he was able to film his first wild tiger. It was an adult male in his prime. Park called him 'King Big'. The King, in spite of his size, was an attentive tiger. When he found out something wasn't quite right near his deer kill (referring to the camera near the deer), he moved on. Park noticed that Amur tigers knew the forest very well. Anything out of the ordinary was detected and investigated. Tigers, he said in the documentary 'Siberian Tiger Quest', " ... don't like the strange changes in the forest ... ".

Tigress 'Bloody Mary', who had three cubs, knew about the hide as well. Although she was careful, he saw her and her cubs at times. The best time to see them was in winter, when the moon was full and the snow was falling. Although she apparently trusted him to a degree, things changed when one of the cubs came over to investigate the hide one day in February. His example was followed by the other cubs. When all three were standing on the roof of his hide, it collapsed. One of the cubs nearly fell in, but managed to get out. There were no direct measures, because the tigers were as surprised as he was. But he was warned by Bloody Mary not long after the incident. For three days in a row, she demonstrated in front of his hide. You have to be on your own in a small hole in the ground in tiger country to understand what he experienced.

Not long after her demonstration, Bloody Mary was killed by a gun trap. Park was devastated. The cubs, old enough to hunt, separated. One cub, a female, moved away on her own. She made it to adulthood. The male cub and his other sister stayed together for some time. At the coast, they separated. Although they stayed clear from humans, both were killed well before they reached adulthood. Poaching in that period was an always present danger. 

b - Chris Morgan

Chris Morgan, an ecologist, had studied bears, wolves and cougars in his home state Washington. When he saw Park's documentary, he decided to move to Russia. Park, who had been five (...) years in Wild Russia to get the footage needed for the documentary that affected many, including Morgan, was his mentor. The decision to feature Park shows how much he respects him.  


c - The documentary

Although it has no 'spectacular' footage of Amur tigers, the documentary 'Siberian Tiger Quest' is interesting all the way. It shows that Amur tigers are very elusive animals. Make that thinking animals. They need to be, because the forest has few animals. If you want to survive in Sichote-Alin, you need to be able to find them, especially in winter, when bears, an alternative source of food for many Amur tigers, hibernate. 

Another reason to be careful all the time is humans. Bloody Mary was shot and so where two of her three cubs. Although the Russians seem to be more committed than ever, poaching is always close. In the documentary, when following a tigress, Morgan and Park found out they were not the only ones interested in her. They also heard a shot. Poachers, Park said. A region with 60 000 hunters is dangerous at the best of times. Amur tigers know.    

In Sichote-Alin, the north and the south meet. In summer, the forest is dense, lush and full of life. Almost subtropical, many say. In winter, temperatures drop to minus 30 Celcius. Animals adapt. Bears hibernate, birds, apart from crows, leave and wild boars and deer are on the move all the time. Wolves are few and far between, as they struggle with energy deficits in that period. Furthermore, they know they are on the menu. 

Since it was launched in 1992, the Siberian Tiger Project resulted in many interesting documents. Although we know more about Amur tigers than ever before, I feel we still know next to nothing. I do know, however, that the Russian far East is a region of great beauty:            

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4NKJJcVk1s

Morgan also took a lot of good photographs:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/siberian-tiger-quest-chris-morgans-siberian-tiger-photo-album/7907/#0 Reply