Anti-poaching drive brings Siberia’s tigers back from brink

A WWF appeal aims to highlight the threat of habitat destruction and climate change on wild populations

Robin McKie Science editor

Saturday 24 June 2017 20.10 BST Last modified on Saturday 24 June 2017 22.30 BST 

In February, Pavel Fomenko was told that the body of a young female tiger had been discovered underneath a car parked outside the town of Luchegorsk, in eastern Russia. Fomenko – head of rare species conservation for WWF Russia – took the corpse for examination where he uncovered the grim details of the animal’s death.

The Amur tiger, which is also known as the Siberian tiger, had been caught in a trap and had chewed off a paw to free itself. It was left crippled, unable to hunt, and died of starvation while seeking shelter under the car. “Hearing about this sort of thing is always painful,” said Fomenko. “This was a beautiful tigress.” It is harrowing scenes such as these that conservation groups are hoping will become increasingly rare in the years to come. Later this week, WWF will launch an appeal that aims not just to halt the decline in tiger numbers but to boost them to new levels. The goal is to increase the world’s tiger population in the wild to more than 6,000 by 2022, the next Chinese year of the tiger. In this way, it should be possible to achieve global security for this poster boy and girl of the conservation movement.

The death of the tigress found under the car is tempered by the knowledge that the Amur is part of a global wild tiger population that has started to rise, albeit marginally, after decades of decline. The world lost 97% of its tiger population in a little over a century, but last year, WWF reported that global numbers in the wild had risen from 3,200 in 2010 to about 3,900 in 2016, thanks to the introduction of anti-poaching patrols, habitat protection and other measures.

“The increase in tiger numbers is encouraging but the species’ future in its natural environment still hangs in the balance and numbers remain perilously low,” said Rebecca May, WWF’s tiger specialist. “There now needs to be an enormous push forward to build on this progress. We need commitment and urgent action from all governments of ‘tiger-range’ countries [where tigers still roam free], as well as the passion and unwavering support of the public.”

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Outrage as endangered tiger shot dead by hunter who claimed it 'attacked his dog'

A RARE tiger has been shot dead by a hunter who claimed the endangered wild cat had mauled him before killing his dog.

By TOM BATCHELOR

PUBLISHED: 06:00, Fri, Nov 6, 2015 | UPDATED: 07:50, Fri, Nov 6, 2015

REN-TV

There are around 500 Siberian tigers left in the wild

The unnamed man, who told officers he was hunting wild boar at the time, said he was forced to kill the Siberian - or Amur - tiger in self-defence after it bit his legs.

He was rushed to hospital after alerting authorities to the attack using his mobile phone.

Investigators in the far eastern Kharbarovsk region of Russia, close to the border with China, are looking at whether the man is in fact a tiger poacher.

Sergei Aramilev, director of the local branch of the tiger campaign group, told the Siberian Times: "Siberian tigers very seldom attack people without a reason.

"There have been cases when people killed tigers to sell them and made up stories about self-defence.

"The true picture of events will be found out when we match a map of the scene, the hunter's testimony, autopsy results and a follow-up examination."

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12 month’s after release ‘Putin’s tigers’ are reported as thriving

One year after five orphaned Siberian tigers were released in the Russian Far East the signs are four out of the five are doing well and have adapted successfully to life in the wild.

Thanks to four camera traps IFAW had donated to the Khingan Nature Reserve, there is now have footage of Ilona the tigress looking healthy and marking her territory.

Satellite tracking and camera trap videos show that the rehabilitated orphan tigress continues to thrive in the Russian forests near the Chinese border. By tracking her movements, scientists have learned that she is hunting wolves, deer and wild boar.

“Success stories like Ilona are helping to change the opinion and policy of officials in the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources,” said Maria Vorontsova, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Russia director. “There was a general belief that it was impossible to rehabilitate and return orphan tiger cubs back to the wild. IFAW and our partner groups have now proven that it is indeed possible.”

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FOUR PAWS transfers family of six tigers to a new life in South African sanctuary

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Adam Rahman

International animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS has successfully transferred a family of six Siberian tigers from its Big Cat Centre FELIDA in the Netherlands to the vast plains of it big cat sanctuary LIONSROCK, in South Africa. 

At LIONSROCK, the six tigers – two parents and their four offspring – will have the opportunity to live a life fit for a tiger in huge enclosures under the South African sun, feeling grass under their paws, having the opportunity to run, to play and to swim in the specially built pools.

Heli Dungler, founder and president of FOUR PAWS, was there to witness the happy moment as the tigers made their first steps into their new home. “The animals arrived safely at LIONSROCK,” Dungler said. “They originally come from very bad keeping conditions. The long trip from the Netherlands to South Africa was more than worth it. Here in LIONSROCK these tigers can start a second life appropriate to their needs.”

The story of the parents, Cromwell and Juno, began in 2000 in Britain, at Dartmoor Wildlife Park, where the two tigers, along with four other tigers and two jaguars, were bred to be sold. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the sale of the animals was no longer possible, and as the animals were kept in enclosures that were no longer safe, they were moved to a shelter in the Netherlands named Pantera (later taken over by FOUR PAWS and renamed FELIDA).

For the two jaguars a new home was quickly found, and the six tigers were supposed to move to a safari park in China. Then, with the outbreak of bird flu, the animals could not be transported. Finally in 2004 four tigers were allowed to leave for China. Cromwell and Juno stayed in the Netherlands and together they had two litters, three sons and a daughter, who also lived with them in the shelter.

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