Amur Tigers

[Apex Titan]

More information on Franz Hafner's new documentary on Amur tigers.

"AMUR TIGER. MASTER OF THE TAIGA": THE PREMIERE OF A UNIQUE FILM WILL TAKE PLACE ON CHANNEL ONE

The owner of the Ussuri taiga. Photo courtesy of the film crew.

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For thousands of years, mighty tigers have been the masters of the Ussuri taiga. One of the largest wild cats in the world rightfully occupied a dominant position in the animal kingdom of the Far East. However, over time, formidable predators have serious rivals - people. 

About two hundred years ago, they began to actively hunt Amur tigers and almost completely destroyed the entire livestock in the wild. The man came to his senses almost at the last moment. Striped beauties were taken under reliable protection and saved from extinction.

The fascinating film "The Amur Tiger. Master of the Taiga" tells about the return of the population of these rare predators to a full life, their present, future, as well as coexistence with people. The premiere of the documentary, filmed by Austrian filmmakers with the grant support of the Russian Geographical Society, will take place on Saturday,

- The filming took place in different places of the Khabarovsk Territory and Primorye - on the Bikin River, in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, in the Anyui National Park. I name just a few places. This is a story about the successful return of the Amur tiger to the wild, thanks to conservation measures taken by the Russian nature protection agencies and the energetic actions of many people who work in the reserves. We are talking about a completely new situation in the Ussuri taiga. About how it is possible to organize the coexistence of people and big wild cats and how the future of the Amur tiger may look like , - the director of the documentary Franz Hafner shared with the readers of the RGS website.

Directed by Franz Hafner. Photo courtesy of the film crew.

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"Amur Tiger. Master of the Taiga" is not the first experience of working in Russia for the Austrian director, journalist and photographer specializing in wildlife projects. In 2012, his team began filming a three-episode film about the Amur, one of the longest and mightiest Russian rivers. The film was released in 2015. Three years later, viewers saw the two-part picture "Wild Sea of Russia" - a declaration of love for nature and people on the coast of the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk.

— The film about the Amur tiger was our third project in Russia. Why is the movie about him? Many years ago, when I was still working at the Institute for the Biology of Wildlife Species in Vienna, my specialization was birds of the grouse tribe. One of our research projects took us to the Russian Far East, to the Amur. There we studied a rare and little-known species - wild grouse. We spent three years next to this charming bird. And more than once we noticed that a male tiger roams around us. The size of his paw prints were very impressive. Since then, I began to be interested in this beast. But to be interested in tigers and plan to make a film about them  -it's a big difference that we quickly realized. A thorough knowledge of this species, the help of local scientists and friends, as well as a well-established film crew are needed, Hafner said.

The main character is in the frame. Photo courtesy of the film crew.

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The documentary film "The Amur Tiger. Master of the Taiga" was produced with the support of the Russian Geographical Society, the government of the Khabarovsk Territory, the Amur Tiger Center, as well as jointly with the Directorate of Documentary Films of Channel One JSC, the Austrian television and radio company ORF and National Geographic. The project was approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The main shooting took place on the territory of the Khabarovsk Territory and Primorye, in the National Park "Land of the Leopard", in the Anyui National Park, the Bikin National Park, the Sikhote-Alin Reserve. Film directed by Franz Hafner. Cameramen - Oliver Indra, Oleg Kabalik, Dietrich Heller. Producer: Alexander Bundtzen. The film crew included inspectors, researchers and other employees of Russian nature reserves.

Udege guide Klim. Photo courtesy of the film crew.

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According to Hafner, it is very difficult to see a tiger in the taiga, because he always feels the presence of a person. Shooting with a handheld camera is almost impossible - the animals "pose" for no longer than ten seconds, so 60 camera traps came to the aid of the filmmakers. At the same time, you still need to know where predators go, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of their behavior. The group did the first reconnaissance for almost six months. During this time, the authors of the picture evaluated many places and only then decided where they would work. The tigers were also photographed manually at close range, but mostly they worked with camera traps.

— "The Amur tiger. Master of the taiga" is a success story. I hope that our efforts will pay off and the film will find its audience around the world , - admitted Hafner.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The Russian Geographical Society has been supporting  the Amur Tiger project since 2010 . Its goal is to study the state of the population of a rare predator, develop scientific foundations for the conservation of this animal, and draw public attention to the problem of its protection in Russia.

https://www.rgo.ru/ru/article/amurskiy-t...0%BB%D0%B0 Reply