Amur Tiger Program
7/5/94
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/* Written 4:42 pm Jul 5, 1994 by perc@igc.apc.org in
igc:env.siberia */
/* ---------- "AMUR TIGER PROGRAM" ---------- */
July 5, 1994
Dear Friend of the Tiger,
Following is a copy of the "Amur Tiger Program." This is a
comprehensive outline for Amur tiger protection developed by
Russian tiger specialists. The program was developed and agreed
upon over the course of two meetings, which took place on May 5 in
Vladivostok, and on June 5 in the village of Gaivoron.
Subsequently, the program was translated by PERC with assistance
from BJ Chisholm at ISAR, and published by Zov Taigi.
Russian tiger specialists hope that the program will become a
guide for efforts to protect the endangered Amur tiger population
in the Russian Far East. They hope that foreign efforts to
protect the tiger will support the ideas and projects outlined in
this program, and will be coordinated closely with the Russian
specialists responsible for implementation of each section. The
publication includes a list of these Russian specialists, the
sections for which they are responsible, and how to contact them.
As many of you know, PERC is playing an active role in supporting
the environmental education part of the program, as well as
working on some other aspects, including the development of
sustainable nature use. Please feel free to contact us with any
questions about our work. We also encourage you to contact the
Russians directly about supporting their comprehensive program.
For the taiga,
David Gordon
Siberian Forests Protection Project
****
This program was adopted at the meeting of the international group
for the conservation of the Amur tiger on the fifth of June, 1994,
in Gaivoron, Primorsky region.
The following participated in the composition of the program: D.
Pikunov, B. Abramov, A. Astafyev, D. Miquelle, A. Kulikov, Y.
Dunishenko, E. Smirnov, I. Nikolaev, G. Salkina, V. Solkin, V.
Shetinin.
****
"AMUR TIGER PROGRAM"
Action Plan for Saving Panthera tigris altaica
The tiger is one of the rarest and most beautiful predators on
Earth. Of today's five remaining subspecies, the Amur tiger is
the second rarest, after the subspecies found in Southern China.
The problems of protecting rare species, including the tiger -- a
heritage of all humanity -- are reflected in the New Worldwide
Strategy for the Protection of Nature, adopted in 1991 by the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature, UNEP, the
World Wide Fund for Nature, and other agreements and conventions.
On a global scale, the Amur tiger population is characterized by
the following conditions:
* No more than 20 individuals have been preserved in China. They
inhabit a limited territory in the northeast regions along the
Chinese-Russian border (Lu Bingxin, 1993). There is no prospect
for increase of this micro population due to migration from the
Russian side.
* In North Korea, as in South Korea, there have been no
observations of tigers in the wild for the past two decades.
Therefore, today the Amur tiger's last refuge in the wild is the
Sikhote-Alin mountain range.
* The largest population of Amur tigers (counted at 240-250
individuals in 1985) has been preserved in these mountains, in the
far southeastern corner of Russia, in Primorye and the southern
part of Khabarovsky region (Pikunov, 1989, 1990, 1994; Dunishenko,
1993).
It is common knowledge that in the 1930's, the tiger had been
exterminated over a large area of its Russian Far East habitat.
At this time, only a few groups and some lone individuals were
preserved in the remote regions of the central Sikhote-Alin and in
the mountains of Manchuria.
The main factors in restoring the tiger population in the Russian
Far East were the 1935 creation of the Sikhote-Alin nature
preserve and its Sudzukhinsky affiliate; a five-year ban
(1936-1940) on hunting red deer (izyubr), the Amur tiger's main
prey; a drop in the number of hunters in 1941; a full ban on tiger
hunting in Primorsky region starting in 1947; and a later ban on
the capture of tiger cubs.
The growth of the tiger population continued through the
mid-1980s. Nonetheless, the conditions for its existence worsened
every year. By the beginning of the 1990s, the majority of the
forests in tiger habitat had undergone large-scale industrial
cutting. Korean pine has been practically fully cut over, and
Mongolian oak is being cut intensively. This has greatly
influenced habitat conditions and reduced Ussuri wild boar
populations, an important tiger prey, to minimum levels. The
frequency of poaching has grown rapidly; conflicts between tigers
and
humans occur more often and, as a rule, do not end favorably for
the
predator. As a result, the tiger's population has begun to
seriously decline.
According to official records, an average of 35 tigers have been
shot each year, legally and illegally, from 1985 to 1990.
However, the actual number of killings probably far exceeds the
registered number. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the
destruction of old state institutions, and the opening of the
border sharply changed the conditions of protection and natural
resource utilization. It is becoming obvious that poaching
represents a very real threat to the Russian tiger population and
is being stimulated by high demand for tiger products. Tiger
bone, a highly-valued product in Tibetan medicine, is especially
popular in China, Taiwan, North and South Korea, and other Asian
countries.
Thus, since 1991, an average of 50-70 tigers have been killed
each year. Taking into account the fact that approximately ten
percent of the tiger population dies in the wild of natural causes
every year, the total number of tigers which currently die
annually is 80 to 90. This figure exceeds the annual birthrate
(Pikunov, 1994). This deficit in the birth-death rate accounts
for the overall decline in the population and for the tigers'
hastening disappearance from the districts of the Far East.
Other factors in the reduction of the tiger population include:
The ease of purchasing rifles; poor regulation of hunting of
ungulates; continuing destruction of the forests and, therefore,
of the corresponding ecosystem type; insufficient areas of land
that have been set aside for preservation; the lack of a clear
legal base for natural resource use.
In accordance with the Resolution of the International Symposium
on the Amur Tiger (Khabarovsk, 1993) and the Resolution of the
Working Meeting on the Protection of the Amur Tiger (Vladivostok,
1994), the work for the protection of the Amur tiger and its
habitat
will proceed in the following principal directions:
1. Anti-poaching activities. Necessary relocation of animals
from the wild.
2. Preservation of tiger habitat and enhancement of living
conditions. Organization of various levels of protected
territories. Territorial enlargement of the existing Amur tiger
reservations -- Sikhote-Alinsky and Lazovsky preserves.
3. Scientific research.
4. Development of sustainable nature use.
5. Environmental education and enlightenment.
6. Fulfillment of international obligations to protect the Amur
tiger population. Development of a legal basis for Amur tiger
protection.
7. Creation of international projects for Amur tiger protection.
SECTION 1: ANTI-POACHING ACTIVITIES; NECESSARY
RELOCATION OF WILD ANIMALS
ACTION PLAN
A. Federal level. Create a planning committee to regulate and
assist the processing of documents in the State Duma concerning
the developed tiger program. Work in particular with Amendments to
the Law on Environmental Protection, the Law on Specially
Protected Territories, customs regulations, etc.
B. Regional level.
1. Organize a joint program with the administrations of Primorsky
and Khabarovsk regions and their respective Committees on Nature
Protection in order to prevent illegal export of our national
heritage -- the Amur tiger. Develop additional acts to secure
effective work of operational groups.
2. Legal guarantees. Begin to prepare lawyers in the field of
nature protection laws.
3. Under the Committees on Nature Protection of Primorsky and
Khabarovsky regions, found operational groups of inspectors to
protect the animal and plant world and to combat poaching and
trade in tiger parts. To legally grant the inspectors of the
operating group the same level of authority as the police. To
organize a corresponding group on the territory of all the nature
preserves located in tiger habitat. To guarantee material
benefits for the operating group.
4. To conduct a one-time tiger census over the entire habitat in
the 1994-95 winter season. To determine the attachment of tigers
to specific management territories and to conduct initial mapping
of individual habitat areas. To determine the legal
responsibility of land-users for the protection of tigers
inhabiting territory under their regulation.
5. To require land-users and heads of management organizations to
prepare and present technical-economic bases for management
activities within tiger territory, in accordance with the Law on
Protection of the Environment.
6. To carry out an evaluation of the population structure, and to
determine areas where cohabitation of tigers and humans is not
desirable or not permissible.
7. Develop instructions:
* On removal of tigers from the wild which are truly
dangerous to humans
* On utilization of tiger corpses confiscated from
poachers, shot by special permission and those which have
died of natural causes.
8. To create a specialized center in Vladivostok to train
inspectors of operational groups, customs workers, and police,
with the goal of training and retraining all Far Eastern nature
protection workers.
9. To organize the collection of operative information on the
condition of the tiger population in control areas and in nature
preserves. To set standards for payments of the following:
rewards for information on poaching; prizes for capture of
poachers; damage compensation to organizations and private
citizens who are victims of tiger attacks on livestock or humans.
10. Forbid commercial hunting of ungulates on the territory of
Primorsky region.
SECTION 2: PRESERVATION OF TIGER HABITAT AND
ENHANCEMENT OF LIVING CONDITIONS. ORGANIZATION
OF VARIOUS LEVELS OF PROTECTED TERRITORIES.
TERRITORIAL ENLARGEMENT OF EXISTING AMUR TIGER
RESERVATIONS---SIKHOTE-ALIN AND LAZO PRESERVES.
In the Far East, the habitat requirements for one tiger are
sufficiently large. The size of this area is determined by the
prey base; existence of secluded areas; forest stand
characteristics; existence of anxiety-provoking factors; degree of
inaccessibility to humans. These factors determine the density of
the tiger population. Therefore, the development of a low-impact
regime of economic activities in tiger habitat in agreement with
the Law on Environmental Protection is an indispensable step in
protecting tiger habitat and improving living conditions.
1. To map land use patterns in tiger habitat, according to the
type of management activity, and to evaluate the relations between
existing use and existing legislation.
2. To conduct an expert evaluation of land development plans and
the main development directions in Primorsky region's nature-use
districts in tiger habitat, as defined by the ecological program.
3. To develop a proposed network of protected territories, as
envisioned in the ecological program of Primorsky region.
4. To evaluate the ecological and anthropological conditions
within tiger habitat, existing and potential densities of ungulate
populations, the ecological carrying capacity of hunting
resources, and the necessity for biotechnology.
5. To determine the numbers and densities of the ungulate
populations necessary for balanced predator-prey relationships.
6. To calculate the necessary habitat area for stable tiger
population under current and potential densities of ungulate
populations, taking into consideration basic limiting factors.
7. To create new nature protection reserves and to increase the
territory of existing reserves, with the goal of protecting the
genetic fund of the tiger and natural associations of plant and
animal communities.
8. To organize natural territories with various regimes of
protection and resource use, so as to work towards sustainable
development of nature and society in the following ways:
a) create multi-species and specialized (tiger) wildlife
refuges, and to provide real protection for already existing
refuges.
b) to identify territories which serve as biological
corridors between nature preserves, wildlife reserves, and
other specially protected reserves, routes for the continual
movement of tigers and their potential prey.
c) to provide assistance in the organization of ethnic
territories in order to protect cultural traditions and
native lifestyle.
SECTION 3: SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Accurate and current information about the condition of the Amur
tiger population and about threats to its habitat is fundamental
for evaluation of population viability and for the practical
realization of a conservation plan.
The population of the Amur tiger in Russia could have disappeared
in the mid-1930's. The enthusiasm and dynamism of Russian
scientists helped the tiger survive. To a large degree, this
success in tiger conservation was facilitated by government
support.
Since the 1930's, Russian scientists have collected extensive
material concerning practically all aspects of this predator's
biology. Beginning in 1991, due to the successful work of the
Russian-American Amur tiger conservation projects, it has been
possible to obtain new information on the animals' ecology
(especially in the summer period). In addition, this work has
attracted public attention, including international and
governmental attention, to this complicated problem.
Section 2 has already touched on some of the scientific issues of
this program, as major scientific work is needed to correctly
resolve questions of habitat protection and enhancement.
In addition, scientific research should include:
1. Population census and monitoring:
a) a winter census of tigers and potential prey throughout
the entire habitat area once every three years
b) on-going study of the habitat conditions of subpopulations
of the predator in study areas (nature preserves, wildlife
refuges, and study areas outside protected territories)
c) study of population structure and reproductive
potential
d) clarification of the relationship between tigers and other
large predators
e) study of tiger behavior, including relations to humans in
the wild
f) development of a methodology of frightening tigers away
from domestic livestock and people
g) development of safety instructions for human encounters
with tigers
h) creating a biological station for study of tiger behavior,
their relations to humans, various species of prey, temporary
holding of tigers and other animals taken from the wild.
2. Identification of the influence of environmental changes
(forestry, forest fires, changes in forest formations,
agricultural clearing, changes in the hydrological regime,
climate, etc.) on the numbers and densities of ungulates, tigers
and other predators.
3. Determining optimal conditions for tiger survival, with the
help of Geographic Information Systems (GIS):
a) organizing all known information about the Amur tiger and
its habitat
b) providing necessary computer equipment and personnel
training
c) composing a plotted land-use plan for tiger habitat, in
coordination with the government administrations of
Khabarovsky and Primorksy regions and their respective
Committees on Nature Use and Committees on Ecology.
4. Enclosed upkeep of tigers and maintenance of a tigrarium in
order to study the possibilities for reintroducing individuals
back into their natural habitat.
SECTION 4: DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE
NATURE USE
This block touches on all aspects of civilization's influence on
the natural surroundings.
The Preamble to Agenda 21 of the Rio de Janeiro conference (1992)
said: "The world is now facing problems of deepening poverty,
hunger,
disease, illiteracy, and the continuing degradation of ecological
systems
on which we depend for subsistence. The only way to guarantee
ourselves a safer, brighter future is to solve problems of
environment
and economic development as a whole, by consensus."
The long-term survival of the Amur tiger in the wild hangs on the
fate of the mountainous forests of the Sikhote-Alin. The region's
economic development also wholly depends on the state of these
forests. In the big picture, humans only have the right to divide
the fruits of their own labor. Humans have the responsibility to
share natural resources with all of nature's inhabitants.
The development and practical implementation of sustainable nature
use has, through the years, manifested itself in various projects
and programs. It is worthwhile to recollect the project
"Kedrograd."
The roots of these projects often reappear with their priorities
and
goals altered to suit different people and groups. Nevertheless,
the
very fact that these fundamentals keep reappearing is, in and of
itself,
proof of the real need for such projects.
Our efforts may be successful if we can accomplish the following:
1. Facilitate the mandatory inclusion and participation of
specialists from the international tiger group in environmental
impact assessments of projects involving resource use in tiger
habitat.
2. Bring specialists from the international tiger group into
regional-level government commissions on leasing of hunting
resources, forest use, and recreational zones.
3. Territories of forest management must be determined only after
creating a network of protected territories.
4. Development and implementation of a program of multi-faceted
sustainable forest use on a specially selected model territory,
which would include existing villages.
5. Stimulation of technological development in order to produce
fast-growing tree species and low-impact management regimes for
long-lived species.
6. Study of the influence of hunting on populations and
distribution of ungulates and predators, and development of
regulatory legislation to set dates and length of hunting
seasons.
7. Development of ecotourism in Amur tiger habitat.
SECTION 5: ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND
ENLIGHTENMENT
Humans and human activity are the deciding factor in changes to
natural ecosystems. Therefore, it is extremely important to
organize ecological enlightenment and education not only for
children, who are most receptive to this information, but also for
certain categories of adults. The crisis of Amur tiger
conservation in
the wild requires that attention be paid to the distribution,
reliability,
and efficiency of ecological information.
It is also realistic to hope to nurture patriotic feelings among
Far Easterners towards the unique nature of their region.
The main directions in which the educational enlightenment program
will work are:
1. Organization of regular publication of articles in newspapers
and journals.
2. Development and implementation of educational programs for
preschoolers and school children.
3. Development and implementation of educational and
methodological programs for teachers, university students, and
educators in higher education.
4. Publication of a newspaper or journal to be distributed in the
region.
5. Organization of an ongoing television program for Khabarovsk
and Primorsky regional television. Broadcast of the most
interesting programs through Ostankino, the national television
channel.
6. Organization of a studio for production of television films on
wildlife, nature preserves, wildlife refuges, natural monuments
and their protection.
7. Organization of an editorial board for the publication of
posters, brochures, booklets, programs, etc.
8. Creation of a network to distribute the given information and
educational productions throughout tiger habitat.
June 5, 1994
Bureau of the International Group to Save the
Amur Tiger
D. G. Pikunov
V. G. Yudin
V. K. Abramov
****
Minutes Meeting of the International Group for Conservation of the
Amur Tiger
Gaivoron (Primorsky Region) 5.June.1994
Present: Abramov, V.K.; Aramiliev, V.V.; Astafyev, A.A.;
Korkishko, V.G.; Laptev, A.A.; Pikunov, D.G.; Salkina, G.P.;
Solkin, V.A.; Storch, I.; Yudin, V.G.; Shetinin, V.I.
Agenda:
I. Discussion and adoption of the international program
for conservation of the Amur tiger.
II. Election of a technical coordinator for realization of the
program.
Minutes: I. The program was discussed and approved. It was
signed by the Bureau members: Pikunov, D.G.; Yudin, V.G.; Abramov,
V.K. Printing of the program was entrusted to Solkin, V.A. and
Aramiliev, V.V.
II. Aramilieva, T.S. was approved as technical coordinator.
Chairperson: Astafyev, A.A. Secretary: Salkina, G.P.
****
LIST OF SPECIALISTS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROGRAM
SECTIONS:
1. ANTI-POACHING ACTIVITIES
Shetinin, V.I. "Tiger" Department. Primorsky State Committee on
the
Environment and Natural Resources Conservation. 93 Pushkinskaya
St., Vladivostok 690001. Tel. (4232) 228-065; Fax (4232) 268-574.
Salkina, G.P. Lazovsky Nature Preserve. 1 Nekrasovskaya, apt.
16.
Lazo, Primorsky Krai, 692890. Tel. (277) 91-2-27, Fax (277) 91-2-
27.
Kulikov, A.N. Khabarovsk Branch NIIOZ. 15a Lev Tolstoy St.,
Khabarovsk, 680063. Tel. (4212) 211-298, Fax (4212) 335-996.
Telex
141-264 aptb su, e-mail: wildlife@wf.khabarovsk.su
Pikunov, D.G., Pacific Institute of Geography, Far Eastern Branch
of
the Russian Academy of Sciences. 7 Radio St. Vladivostok,
690041.
Tel (4232) 312-159, Fax (4232) 312-159. e-mail:
Solkin@stv.sovamsu.sovusa.com
2. HABITAT PRESERVATION
Abramov, V.K. Ussuri Nature Preserve. Ussuri Nature Preserve,
village Kamenushka, Ussuri district, Primorsky Krai. Tel (242)
98-3-85
Pikunov, D.G. (see above)
Aramiliev, V.V. Pacific Institute of Geography, FEB of RAS. 7
Radio
St., Vladivostok, 690041. Tel (4232) 312-606. E-mail:
Solkin@stv.sovamsu.sovusa.com
Salkina, G.P. (see above)
Korkishko, V.G. "Kedrovaya Pad" Nature Preserve. "Kedrovaya Pad"
Nature Preserve, Khazanksy district, Primorsky krai.
3. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Pikunov, D.G. (see above)
Smirnov, E.N. Sikhote-Alin State Biosphere Preserve. s. Ternei,
Primorksy krai, 692150.
Salkina, G.P. (see above)
Abramov, V.K. (see above)
Yudin, V.G. Institute of Soil and Pedology, FEB of RAS, village
Gaivoron, Spassk district, Primorsky krai, 692215.
Kulikov, A.N. (see above)
4. DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE NATURE USE
Kulikov, A.N. (see above)
Korkishko, V.G. (see above)
Aramiliev, V.V. (see above)
Astafyev, A.A. Sikhote-Alin State Biosphere Preserve. s. Ternei,
Primorsky krai, 692150.
Laptev, A.A. Lazovsky Preserve. Lazovsky Preserve, Lazo,
Primorsky
Krai, 692890.
5. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT
Solkin, V.A. Center for Wildlife Protection "Zov Taigi." 7 Radio
St.,
Vladivostok. Tel (4232)314-622, E-mail:
Solkin@stv.sovamsu.sovusa.com
Smirnov, E.N. (see above)
(For a published copy of this program, please contact PERC at
perc@igc.apc.org)