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

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RED WOLVES AND WHITE TIGERS - JOSEPH VELTER - 1952 - PART II

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2 - SICHOTE-ALIN

a - The forest

Velter, Imquill and Pjetroff reached the junction of the Iman and the Ussuri rivers in late autumn. From there, the forest started. Mixed forest with a lot of undergrowth. They followed the Iman River until they reached the junction with the Waku River. Than they went south. At first, there were small Russian and Chinese settlements. When the mountains appeared, no more settlements were seen.

b - A tragedy

For two weeks, they followed the Waku River. Later, they followed the Tudawaku. At the place where the smaller Te-sy-da-gu River joined the Tudawaku, they made camp. Pjetroff took care of it and Velter and Imquill explored the forest. Velter entered a lot of observations in his diary. When he was after isjubr deer, he saw prints of Amur leopards. Two animals had hunted together.

Some days later, at the same place, they saw a Chinese man of about 60 years of age on his knees. They heard him, because he was performing a kind of ritual. The reason? Pan-Tshui (ginseng). He had found what he was after and was thankful. They followed him to his small hut and then left to follow the Amur leopards. Ten days later, they returned. They found the old man lying face down, shot in the back. The ginseng was gone. 

c - Promyschlennik

Baikov, some decades earlier, wrote about Manchuria and Sichote-Alin and the law of the taiga. The law says that two strangers who meet in the taiga shall retreat immediately. Each will then continue on his way. When one does not, the other has the right to consider this act as a threat and shoot. Why such a tough law?

One reason was the presence of 'promyschlenniks' or taiga thugs. They operated on their own or in small groups. Promyschlenniks didn't hunt themselves, but followed those who did. After they had found the cabin, they waited. In autumn, when hundreds of Chinese and Koreans entered the forest to hunt, the promyschlenniks were waiting near their cabins unseen. They let the hunters be for some months, but in spring, when skins had been collected and prepared, the promyschlenniks shot them and sold the skins on the nearest market. Promyschlenniks are the main reason many hunters have dogs.   

The law of the taiga says theft is worse than murder. If hunters catch a thief, a trial will follow. Thieves are either shot immediately (in Sichote-Alin) or tied to a tree for the tiger (in Manchuria). This probably is the reason why Manchuria had more man-eating tigers than Sichote-Alin.

d - Tigers

The upper Tudawaku River was known for tigers. Even in the thirties and forties of the last century, there were still tigers. One reason was the region was far away from settlements. Another was caves (...) and plenty of deer. Velter, Imquill and Pjetroff sensed them, but didn't see any. Someone else did.

e - How to hunt sable

Imquill, Velter and Pjetroff stayed near the Tudawaka River for quite some time. Every day, Imquill and Velter walked the forest. One day, they saw a cabin. They waited for the owner, who turned out to be a Korean hunter. He invited them into his cabin. A day later, he visited them and told them how to hunt sable.

Sable cross small streams by using trees that fell over these streams. In places where the forest is untouched by storms, sables can't cross streams for lack of fallen trees. In these forests, hunters place a tree over a stream. A trap is built on the tree. When the sable passes, he is caught. When he struggles, a stone will fall into the stream. The stone is heavier than the sable and the animal will drown. In this way, the skin is preserved (in winter). Tough place, tough people and tough methods.

f - The effect of poaching

Poachers often are the first to complain about the effect of poaching. The Korean hunter told Vetter that the number of sables he got was about 10% of the number his father got. A loss of 90% in one generation only, that is! He, like Arseniev and Dersu a few decades before him, thought most animals would be gone in a few decades.

g - The effect of World War Two

The slaughter of animals in Sichote-Alin was stopped because of World War Two. Many think the Sovjet-Union wasn't very active until the summer of 1941, but the Red Army had been involved in heavy fighting in Manchuria in 1938 and 1939. Zhukov, before he got known, was in command and got a decisive victory. The Japanese lost about 90.000 men and many think this is the reason Japan decided against invading Russia and opted for a different strategy in 1941. South-east Asia and the Pacific. Oil, that is. Stalin, for this reason, was able to transfer a number of Siberian divisions to Moscow two years later. It made a difference. 

In the summer of 1945, the Red Army defeated the Japanese Army in Manchuria again. After the war, many Chinese and Korean hunters had to leave Sichote-Alin. This development was crucial for Sichote-Alin and its wildlife in that the number of hunters dropped considerably. Russian hunters, from then on, were also subject to new hunting laws. Kaplanov's article on the plight of the Amur tiger had something to do with it as well. One cannot overestimate the impact of his article.         

h - A big Amur brown bear

Velter and his friends left the Tudawaku and travelled to the Ulache River, where they made camp and stayed for about three weeks. When the weather deteriorated, they build a cabin. Pjetroff in particular proved to be invaluable.

Just before the snows arrived, the small horses they had taken suddenly disappeared. No big deal, as they leave quite often to feed themselves in the forest. This time, however, they didn't return. The reason was a bear. One of the horses had been killed by a big brown bear.

Velter and Imquill waited near the dead horse and shot the bear in the evening. Velter, who had shot bears in Europe, The Urals and Central-Siberia before, thought he was the largest he had seen. The bear was estimated at 22 pud or 730 German pounds (365 kg.). The animal was an oldish male and he was black as the night.

Bears in eastern Russia, according to Velter, were larger than in Europe, the Urals and western parts of Siberia. Another difference was they often attacked the one who shot them, whereas bears in other regions, even when wounded, fled as a rule. 

Every mow and then, cattle hunting bears change from animals to humans. Velter knew about two man-eaters. The first one, in the Chogotskaja Mountains, had partly eaten two of the humans he had killed. The other, shot in Chanda, had killed and eaten at least a dozen (...).

Pikunov, when asked about the Amur tiger and the Amur brown bear many years later (by posters, I assume), said male brown bears were definitely not on the menu. He thought males of both species were about equal in tooth and claw, but the male bear was known for his endurance as well as his terrible temper. He had lost many friends to bears. To say Pikunov is experienced would be an understatement, so we have to go with him in this respect. I doubt if Pikunov was familiar with Velter's book, but Velter too confirmed Amur brown bears are not to be taken lightly.  

i - Weather changes and animals

Velter soon learned that violent weather changes were known to animals before they happened. When a storm was on its way to Sichote-Alin, the pressure fell and all animals disappeared for days. After an October storm, Velter and Imquill tried to find animals in the forest. They didn't see anything and thought the place was deserted. It wasn't. After the storm had passed, it started to snow. It was only then that they found that the place they had selected to stay was teeming with wildlife. Sable, different species of deer, bears, wild pigs, otters and wolves.

j - An Udege hunter who saw tigers

After the snow in October, Imquill fell ill as a result of malaria he had contracted some years before. Velter went out on his own. When following a muskdeer, he came upon a deserted giant pitfall. Some of these pitfalls, like Dersu (in 'Dersu, the Trapper') had said, were so large, that hundreds of animals succumbed.

Velter shot a small deer and returned to the cabin. During his walk, he found tracks of another, unknown, hunter. The tracks said he was limping as a result of an injury to his foot. Velter overtook him and invited him to the cabin. The Udege hunter stayed until his foot had healed. In the ten days he stayed, the Udege said he had seen two tigers not half a mile away. The tracks he saw said there were more tigers around, but Velter and his companions saw and heard nothing.

k - Red wolves

During their stay near the Ulache, Pjetroff constructed a wolf trap. There were many wolves, meaning the number of tigers probably was very low at that time (the thirties and forties of the last century). This confirmed the observations of Kaplanov later (less than 50 and probably only 20-40 tigers in all of Sichote-Alin in the mid-forties of the last century).

Pjetroff caught 23 animals, two of which were completely red. At first Velter thought they were exceptional, but later he learned red wolves were considered a different breed.

I don't quite know what to make of it. Based on what I read, I think Velter didn't see dholes (Cuon alpinus). The red wolves he saw were as large as the grey wolves and perhaps more predatory. He wrote red and grey wolves lived and hunted apart from each other.

l - A black fox

In late fall, the Udege, Imquill and Velter constructed traps for sable. Other animals were also trapped and one of these was a completely black fox. His pelt was later sold in Vladivostok for $ 400,00. The buyer was an American.    
 
m - The source of the Notoche ('Nyntou' in Udege)

In the last stages of the severe winter, Pjetroff, Imquill and Velter left their cabin. They reached the source of the Notoche River some weeks later. Near the junction of the Notoche and the Ulache, they saw a Chinese settlement  called Notochousa. It was one of the oldest Chinese settlements in Sichote-Alin. In the old days, all hunters met there. Notochousa lost its status when it was hit by different diseases. Many local tribes disappeared completely as a result of disease in those days.

Most huts had one room only and every hut was filthy and crawling with insects and disease. Many inhabitants were affected by disease. A few weeks later, near the coast (see -n-), they discovered human skulls. They had belonged to members of local tribes who had succumbed to the Manchurian pest. The pest?

Yes, it was the pest. The disease was transferred from small animals to humans by hunters. Many of those who lived in Sichote-Alin hunted in those days and outbreaks of the pest were more or less common from the coast to as far west as Lake Baikal. The Udege and the Gold told Velter that the disease usually raged for some months. Doctors were few and far between and only few of them visited settlements that were affected. Every outbreak resulted in a massacre. Local tribes in particular were often severely hit.    

n - Summer

When summer had arrived, Pjetroff, Imquill and Velter moved towards the coast, still close to the Ulache River. Until the snows arrived, they were tormented by flies and mosquitos.

In summer, most hunters (Chinese in particular, but Koreans and Russians as well) turned to deer. A few decades earlier, the Chinese were able to get hundreds at a time in immense pitfalls. When Felter and his companions were there, only few of those that remained were shot. Pitfalls had been declared illegal, but Felter, in spite of that, stumbled upon long forgotten pitfalls every now and then.

o - Hunted by wolves

In late summer, Velter hunted on his own because Imquill suffered from malaria contracted in inner-Siberia. He followed a deer. When he got the chance he was waiting for, he shot. The animal collapsed, but it wasn't the deer. Velter had shot the wolf who had selected the same animal (...).

In Sichote-Alin, wolves usually split up in two smaller packs when they followed deer in the forest. After shooting the wolf by accident, he noticed he was surrounded by the others. Although they didn't act aggressive at first, he decided to leave because he felt uncomfortable. Some time later, he noticed he was followed. He shot another wolf to discourage them, only to discover the entire pack was on his heels. When it was clear he was targeted, he climbed a tree. The wolves stayed close all night, but left in the morning. It was a pack of red wolves.

p - Tiger

Velter and his companions wanted to shoot a tiger at first and maybe even capture a young tiger. They knew tigers were close near the Ulache. During their search, they discovered small shrines made by Chinese hunters. In these shrines, they prayed for protection from tigers.

Velter discovered their prayers had a ground. In Nikolst-Ussuriskj, when they started their journey, they had heard many stories about humans killed and eaten by tigers. Soldiers, railroad workers, hunters and members of local tribes were hunted. Tigers were much feared back then.  

Tigers and humans also were competitors. They sometimes hunted the same animal and at times they met. Velter found out it wasn't hearsay the hard way.

One day in late August, he and Imquill were after isubjr. They found a place that could attract a deer. When they heard a male calling, they responded from their hide. The deer responded and got closer. When they could actually see him, they heard another call and it wasn't made by the deer or them (...). The deer got even closer, but suddenly ran like mad. The reason was he had discovered his enemy at the very last moment. It wasn't Velter and Imquill, but the tiger hidden in thicket only 15 yards away. Both Velter and the tiger were frustrated. When Velter was sure they were circled and intimidated, they had had enough. They left and never returned. No more tigers from then on.

But they couldn't escape them. In September and October, they saw their prints near the river they had selected and some were very large. The reason tigers were so close was wild pigs (Sus scrofa).

Pigs were not selected by hunters. There were just too many cases of humans ripped in pieces. In Sichote-Alin and Manchuria, wild pigs were much more aggressive and dangerous than in other parts of Russia. And in those days they were bigger than anywhere else. Velter and his companions wrote they saw boars of a size they had never seen before. They decided to stay away from them and decided to leave the area.

q - Dead forests

On their way towards the coast, they saw ghost forests of immense size. Hundreds of thousands of dead trees that had succumbed in the terrible storms typical for Sichote-Alin. They experienced more than one storm and saw the destruction it caused. Unexperienced visitors often were unable to understand the destructive power of storms. Many perished in places they should have avoided.

During one storm in October, the temperature, in a few days only, dropped from enjoyable for mosquitos to minus 35 Celcius. The snow that had fallen (about two meters) made every movement impossible. And the pristine forest near the Sudsiche River? Nearly completely gone. The scale of the destruction was difficult to conceive for Velter.

r - Salmon

I knew about salmon in Kamsjatka, but I was surprised to read salmon also entered many streams in Sichote-Alin. There were so many and so many animals profiting, that all rivers seemed like meeting places in large cities. Most visitors were wild pigs, bears (both brown and black bears), crows and magpies. They gorged themselves for many weeks.

When the rivers were so filled they seemed to contain salmon only, the dying began. The stench was unbearable. They left the area, but not after shooting a few bears (two brown bears and one Himalayan bear). The brown bears they saw were smaller than those living on the other side of the mountains. Velter called them 'Kamsjatka brown bears', but I think they were Amur brown bears.

s - Vladivostok

After the salmon, winter began. More storms, more snow and more destruction. Another factor that contributed to the decision to call it a day  was solitude. They hadn't seen humans in many weeks again and at times felt completely lost and intimidated by the immense forest and the potential dangers. Large bears, wild boars, tigers, leopards, wolves, disease and, last but not least, promyschlenniks took their toll in the end. A full year out in the open in Sichote-Alin was something that weighed on even the most experienced.

They left for Vladivostok, sold their skins, entered a nice hotel and enjoyed roomservice, big meals and nice company. But when you've experienced wild country for long periods of time, you won't last long in a city. In April, they left again. Korea it was. I'll try to find the book. Reply