Residents of the Khasansky and Anuchinsky Districts of Primorsky Krai lost their dogs as a result of conflict situations involving the Amur Tiger in 2022. By agreement with the victims, they were compensated for the damage with dog food.
All incidents happened in 2022: two in February, one in March, one in April, one in August and one in September. In all cases tigers' involvement in disappearance of dogs was confirmed by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife Protection of Primorsky Kray and Administration of Wildlife Protection and Natural Protected Areas of Primorsky Kray.
It was not possible to replace the lost animals with similar ones, so the victims were offered to compensate the damage with food proportionate to the amount of damage, and the offer was accepted. In total, the Amur Tiger Center donated over 240 kilograms of food for the dogs.
Collaboration with the inhabitants of the Amur tiger's range and minimization of conflicts between them and this rare predator is one of the key tasks of nature protection agencies and organizations in the south of the Russian Far East. A program for compensating the damage caused by the Amur tiger to local farm animals and domestic animals is an important part of this work.
The initiative was launched by the Amur Tiger Center in 2015 to reduce tension between the population and the tiger by minimizing the desire of citizens to take revenge on the predator for the loss of animals.
Thanks to the support of sponsoring organizations, the Amur Tiger Center compensates owners for losses regardless of who was responsible for the attack: the tiger or the animal that was its prey. However, the losses are not compensated with money; they are compensated only with food or animals in the amount commensurate with the losses incurred.
In Primorsky Krai, the program is implemented jointly with the Department of Wildlife and Protected Areas of Primorsky Krai and its subordinate state agency, the Directorate for Wildlife and Protected Areas.
Headline photo: Dmitry Mesentsev