The Amur tiger population is at a stable level, and there is even a tendency to increase. This was stated by the head of the Ministry of natural resources of Russia Sergey Donskoy at an extended meeting in Vladivostok on the accounting of the Amur tiger and the Amur leopard in the winter of 2014-2015.it was decided to carry out the accounting of a rare predator every 5 years.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of natural resources of Russia, Rosprirodnadzor, all reserves and national parks in the tiger area, as well as the Primorsky Krai Administration, the Khabarovsk Krai Government, the Amur and Jewish Autonomous regions, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Amur tiger Center.
“It is quite difficult and expensive to conduct accounting annually, but it is within our reach to do the census once every 5 years. In addition, the counting results are very important - they are necessary in order to timely adjust measures to support and protect the striped predator in areas where there is a low tiger population,” said Sergey Donskoy.
However, the meeting agreed that at least 20% of the area of the tiger habitat is necessary to conduct annual monitoring. Model sites should be examined including the use of automatic cameras, they must be laid as the Foundation for protected areas and hunting grounds. Must be met with continuity of sites where monitoring studies have been conducted since 1997. In this connection the specialists in the preparation of the final report the task is to offer the most optimum system for monitoring the population - from the point of view of its reliability and economic efficiency.
“The accounting work was carried out with high quality and does not cause any special complaints. For us, it is important that now we know the order of the number of two rare cats, and this is enough for us to make decisions on their fate at the state level,” said Interim Head of Rosprirodnadzor Amirkhan Amirkhanov. - In general, it can be stated that our common efforts were not in vain and the state of the tiger and leopard populations is at a stable level, even the tendencies to their growth have appeared. Despite this, we still have work to do. Now the common task is to fully analyze the data obtained, to determine the territories where everything is not so good.”
The meeting presented interim data on the state of the Amur tiger population according to expert assessment, which all the participants agreed. Thus, the total number of Amur tigers was 523-540 individuals, with 100-109 individuals living in the Khabarovsk Krai, 417-425 individuals in the Primorsky Krai, besides 4 individuals in the Jewish-Autonomous Region and 2 individuals in the Amur Region. It is characteristic that in the whole range at least 98-100 tigers are noted, which, together with the established normal percentage ratio of males, females and young individuals, suggests that the population has a potential for growth.
“It is gratifying that the meeting not only addressed issues related to accounting for the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard, but also discussed the problems of preserving large predators and ways to solve them - primarily related to poaching. - Sergey Aramilev comments, - At the meeting a number of measures were developed aimed at increasing the effectiveness of legislation - for example, on solving problems related to the circulation of products obtained from wild animals. Due to the fact that the legislation is not regulated, it is not always possible to adequately punish those who sell the meat of illegally obtained ungulates and other animals, and those who beat the meat for sale is one of the most dangerous categories of poachers for the existence of rare cats.”