300 tons of concentrated bulk feed will be bought on the eve of winter by the Amur Tiger Center with the support of the Administration of the Primorsky Krai. The formation of a reserve fund of feed is a necessity caused by the failure of pine nut and acorn in most of the range of the Amur tiger. With a snowy winter, this situation can lead to the death of ungulates.
There is still a month and a half before the beginning of the calendar winter, and employees of environmental organizations are already preparing for the first snowfall. As you know, multi-snow winters are a serious test for wild ungulates, and not all of them manage to pass it. And when there is lack of food, the probability of death increases many times over.
According to the analysis conducted by the specialists of the Amur tiger Center this year, due to the poor harvest of cedar and oak, there is a lack of basic fattening feeds that allow the animal to store reserve fat for the winter. That is why even now in some parts of the tiger habitat of bears and wild boars to agricultural land and human settlements. In the upcoming season with the falling snow more than 40 cm, if he will lie more than 20 days, ROE deer, Sika deer may experience difficulties that lead to loss of parts of their population. When rainfall is over 60 cm, the same fate will befall boar and red deer.
Recall that such situations are not uncommon for the Primorye and Khabarovsk Krai and occur every 5-7 years, and in some areas even more often.
“Our organization has maintained a network of friendly hunting farms over a number of years. One of the tasks that we solve together with them is to maintain a high number of ungulates in key tiger habitats. And also for almost 10 years we have been helping wild ungulates in the most difficult and snowy period. For this, food is purchased, and animals are vaccinated against diseases. The result of this work is a steady number and increase in the number of ungulates in these territories. The upcoming winter will be extremely difficult, so we are now involving other farms in our sphere that are ready to help wild animals,” commented Pavel Fomenko.
In Primorsky Krai, the of Amur tiger Centre with support of Primorsky Krai Administration to create a reserve Fund feed, which will be redistributed among responsible hunters.
“We understand that if an ecological disaster occurs, which is also associated with heavy snow and starvation, the death of a part of the population of ungulates is inevitable. Obviously, in such a critical situation, we cannot all be saved. Therefore, the main task is to save the breeding stock that a new generation will be able to give next year,” comments Sergey Aramilev, director of the Primorsky branch of the Amur Tiger Center. - “In addition, the feed will be distributed only among those hunting users who carry out biotechnical activities, this will help them in their efforts to increase the number of hoofed animals. Feed will begin to spread only after the end of the hunting season under strict control, including veterinarians. Mandatory conduct and vaccination wild boar against classical swine fever. We plan to vaccinate at least 2000 individuals.”
The plight of hoofed animals makes it easier for the tiger to hunt, and during such periods it usually does not starve, but in spring the situation will change. At this time, the number of ungulates decreases as a result of their death, and tigers begin to approach the settlements, and in some cases attack farm animals. Already this winter, an increase in conflict situations with tigers is expected, as hoofed animals will concentrate near farmers' fields, and behind them tigers will also be suitable, which can provoke meetings with humans. Experts expect that increasing the amount of feeding will help reduce the number of such incidents. If ungulates are fed, a large predator will feed as well.
Fodder feeding problems are also usually aggravated by poachers. They enjoy the plight of wild animals. In the coming winter period, as in the past year, it is planned to intensify patrols of the hunting control task forces in the area of the Amur tiger.