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

[peter]

CONFLICTS BETWEEN TIGER AND MAN IN NORTHEAST ASIA - 1 - PRESENT SITUATION

a - Introduction

In 1992, the Siberian Tiger Project (STP) was launched. It was a joint effort of Russian and American biologists to remove the veil covering the famous, but largely unknown, Siberian tiger. The first aim of the project was to study this elusive big cat and inform the general public about the results. The second, and most important, aim was to save it from extinction. In order to get there, reliable information was needed. 

Back then, in the nineties of the previous century, the number of tigers living in that part of the Russian Federation was limited. Nearly all tigers lived in the Maritime Province, Primorye. Over the years, many reports were published. In order to create more room for the tiger, new national parks and reserves were created. After some years, China was involved in the project. It's not clear if they breed in North Korea, but there's overwhelming evidence tigers now visit the most northern districts of this country. 

Anti-poaching teams were created. Tigers were counted. Articles about tigers appeared in local newspapers. Some years later, articles about the Siberian tiger, now known as the Amur tiger, were published in well-known newspapers and magazins all over the world. Children in the Russian Far East were educated. A Tiger Day was created. Documentaries appeared. A few at first, but more followed in the first decades of this century. At the Tiger Meetings, countries that still had tigers pledged to double the number of tigers. In order to reach that goal, political support was needed. The main supporter of the effort to save the Amur tiger from extinction was, and still is, President Putin of the Russian Federation. The Russians started their own project ('The Amur Tiger Programme') in 2008.     

As a result of the effort to save the tiger, the population started to increase. There's not much information about the situation in Sumatra and southeast Asia, but in India the population nearly doubled between 2010-2024. In Bhutan and Nepal, the population also increased in that period. Same for China. The Russian Federation, however, topped the list. In 2022, biologists estimated there were at least 750 tigers in the Russian Far East. This, mind you, is without North Korea and China. Today, there could be close to a thousand tigers in these countries.    

b - The results of more tigers 

Tigers are territorial, meaning they have a home range they only seldom leave. An adult male needs about 30-40 large (100 kg or more) prey animals a year. In most of southern and southeastern Asia, tigers live in, or close to, protected reserves. Most of these reserves (referring to India and Nepal in particular) are well-stocked, meaning an adult male tiger needs 40-80 square km to survive. If the population increases, youngsters in these reserves often have no other option but to move to the fringes. More often than not, these reseerves are surrounded by villages. Not a few villagers graze their animals in the reserve. They also use the reserve to collect firewoord. The result is confrontations with big cats. In Nepal and India, dozens of villagers are killed every year.  

The Russian Far East is very different from India and Nepal. Although the number of reserves and national parks is smaller, they're usually larger. Furthermore, in most cases, they're not surrounded by villages, but forest. If we add the human population in the Russian Far East is small, and, if anything, decreasing, chances are there should be enough room for both in the forest. In 'normal' conditions, this assumption is confirmed in that the number of conflicts is very limited. But life always is a bit different from assumptions and statistics. In 'normal' conditions, tigers are able to find enough food in the forest. The forests in the Russian Far East, preyanimalwise, are not as rich as those in southern Asia, but tigers adapted in that their territories are larger. Energy deficits, for that reason, are uncommon. But it's a close call at the best of times. In the Russian Far East, as a result of the conditions (also referring to the long and harsh winters), most hunters have a solitary lifestyle. 

But what if the conditions change? Not for a season, but for a more extended period of time? And what if the conditions change permanently because of a number of fateful decisions? 

A forest is a very complex and vulnarable system. Compared to a plain or a savannah, it's poor even at the best of times. This is the reason even pristine forests are relatively empty. I'm not saying large animals are few and far between, but it's close. Densities are low and competition between predators in particular is intense. The forest in the Russian Far East is a bit different, because it's situated on a crossroads. In that region, the arctic, the tropics and the sea meet. This is the reason weather changes  not seldom are abrupt and quite violent. Winters are long and harsh as a rule, but climate change is everywhere and it's, no matter what politicians say, very real. That's still apart from crop failures (not uncommon), diseases that decimate numerous species (not uncommon), roads (common), logging (common), hunting (common), poaching (common) and less budget for anti-poaching teams and research (not uncommon). If we add wars (common), a sudden increase of the number of large apex predators as a result of a (political) decision, chances are problems will erupt sooner or later. 

It starts, I think, with the forest. A true forest is an uninterrupted collection of trees. Trees are living organisms, meaning they respond to the conditions. Only mature (adult) trees will produce crops. If they're revoved, it will affect the production of crops. Less forest products means animals depending on them have no option but to find greener pastures. Meaning those hunting them need more time and energy to find them. Meaning adult large predators need larger territories. A century ago, mass migration of tigers were not uncommon. If tigers are unable to migrate or adapt in another way, the most likely result will be an energy deficit. Starvation. This in a region well known for deficits because of the long and harsh winters, meaning it might tip the balance. Just enough to create starvation and desperation. Alternatives are few. One option is to follow migrating herds of prey animals. Still happens today (referring to recent reports of Alexej Gotvansky from the reserves and national parks in the Chabarowsky Krai). Tigers can also decided to enter villages in order to hunt domestic animals. When a large predator able to kill a human enters a village to hunt dogs, cows or horses, chances are humans will be targeted sooner or later as well. This is how man-eaters are made. Jim Corbett maintained man-eaters do not educate their cubs in this department, but there's enough evidence to conclude this is not always the case.                                  

I'm not suggesting the balance in the Russian Far East is rapidly collapsing, but it's clear the increasing number of tigers, as a result of opening up the forest, logging, crop failures, poaching and desperation (hunger), has resulted in problems in a number of districts. More often than not, dogs are targeted. It's, however, also clear some individuals lost their fear of humans. In the last decade, the number of attacks on humans has increased. People have been deliberately hunted and eaten. The result is fear and a loss of support for those trying to protect the tiger.     

c - Video

In the last years, I saw a number of videos about the problems discussed in this post. The video in this post ('Amur tigers terrorize villages in the Far East. Who's to blame?'), although quite long (35:55), is interesting. It was oploaded about a year ago by 'Spectrum' (translated from Russian): 
    
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ4r_no8_y8&t=16s

In the next posts, more videos will be uploaded. If interested, my advice is to make a few notes. Don't wait too long, because most videos I saw were removed within a year. 

d - Future posts

The aim of this series is to discuss the relationship between tigers and humans in the Russian Far East, Manchuria and Korea in the last century. In order to get there, I'll post a number of articles and pages of books written by those who hunted in North Kortea, Manchuria and the Russian Far East. Reply