Bigcats News

[peter]

Very good news, Ngala! China is changing.

The new National Park is not that far from the alleged former Imperial Hunting Reserve of the old rulers. It was a large and well-stocked reserve, that included the upper part of the Sungari River. The reserve was well protected for a number of centuries. This, according to some, was the reason the animals were larger than average. 

At 5600 square miles, the new reserve is large. It's a good start, but the Chinese know that poaching still is a problem. They also know that many forests are quite empty. In order to improve the situation, humans and animals need to be separated and they also need to improve in the management department. Tourism also wouldn't be a good idea right now. When they could keep it up for a century or so and enlarge the National Park to the north and northwest, the forest will recover.   

Enlarging the National Park in the near future is instrumental. Amur tigers, largely as a result of the situation, need a lot of room. In order to give you an idea: the 500 tigers in southeastern Russia have about 160 000 square km. at their disposal! This is a region three times the size of The Netherlands. And 500 tigers is about the utmost the region can have.

If the Russians add 45 000 -50 000 square km. and the Chinese follow their example, they will have created a sanctuary that could compare to the old Imperial Hunting Reserve. A bit further north it would be, but it looks promising in all respects. If everything works out as planned and they can keep it up, there could be about 1 000 adult Amur tigers in 20-40 years from now. I don't know if the region south of Lake Baikal has been considered, but that would be the next step. That and a strict policy on dentists interested in big game, I mean wildlife. Reply