As part of the Amur Tiger compensation programme, the Amur Tiger Center handed over two puppies of the Eastern European Shepherd breed to a resident of the Primorsky Region and dog food to six residents.
The conflict situations involving the amur tiger, which have caused damage to citizens and resulted in compensation, occurred last year and early this year.
The first case occurred on December 25, 2021 on the territory of the recreation center, located near the village Bezverhovo Khasanskiy District, Primorsky Krai. At first, the owner lost the dog of the breed of the Central Asian Shepherd (alabai), and a few days later the second dog disappeared.
Specialists from the Directorate for the Protection of Animal Objects and the OOPT of the Ministry of Forestry and Animal Protection of the Primorsky Krai in both cases inspected the territory and confirmed that a tiger was involved in the events. Materials for compensation were transferred to the Amur Tiger Center.
It took a long time to find the animals instead of the ones lost, as all animals transferred under the compensation program must meet a number of characteristics and requirements. Animals must be healthy, buy only from legal sellers with a full set of documents, etc. Future owners may also impose additional requirements on animals.
As a result, in agreement with the affected party, the damage was compensated by two puppies of the breed of the Eastern European Shepherd, which were provided by the KGBU "Directorate for the Protection of Animal Life and Specially Protected Natural Areas" of the Primorsky Territory.
The puppies are the offspring of service dogs, who are raised and trained in a nursery for the needs of the Hunting Supervision Service of the Primorsky Territory. The nursery was created and operates with the support of the Amur Tiger Center.
In some cases, animals could not be found at all, so the victims of tigers were offered compensation for the damage caused by dog food.
So, instead of the dogs, who died from the hands of the tiger in the autumn of 2021 in the Spassky district (2 dogs) and in January 2022 in Lazovsky (4 dogs) and Olginsky (2 dogs) districts, the Center "Amur tiger" gave six local residents two bags of dog food totaling 286 kg.
The Ministry of Forestry and Animal Protection of the Primorsky Krai reviews each conflict situation with large predators on the basis of data obtained from district specialists of our Service. Our representatives always go to the place, meet with victims citizens, collect all information, record all the details of the incident, also help to fill in the necessary documents, applications. It is important that citizens do not cover up the facts of the tiger attack on pets, but report this in a timely manner, - says the First Deputy Minister of Forestry and Animal Protection of the Primorsky Krai Alexey Suroviy. – First, it is necessary in order to establish the fact of the attack itself, whether it was in fact. As cases of abuse by citizens of such situations have recently increased. This is when a tiger is "copied" losses unrelated to its attack (theft, attack of other animals, such as a bear, stray dogs or wolves). It is therefore necessary to obtain information in time, to react promptly and to collect documentation".
The damage caused by the Amur tiger to agricultural and domestic animals is compensated by the Amur Tiger Center as part of the reparations programme.
The involvement or absence of a rare predator in the death or injury of animals is established by specialists of the Hunting Services, responsible for the area where the attack occurred. For this purpose, Okhotnadzor go to the scene of the incident, inspect the area and the dead animal, collect other evidence. In the event that the fact of a tiger attack is confirmed, specialists help the affected citizens to obtain documents for compensation, and then transfer them to the Amur Tiger Center. The program provides compensation regardless of whether the tiger or the victim is responsible for the attack.
Refunds are made only in kind - directly by animals or feed for them in a size commensurate with the loss suffered.
We note that working with the population in the tiger’s range and minimizing the possibility of conflicts between tiger and man is one of the key tasks of the Amur Tiger Center. The reparations programme significantly reduced tensions between the population and the tiger, minimizing citizens' desire to retaliate for the loss of animals, which had previously often ended tragically for the tiger.