In an effort to increase the numbers of Amur tiger and Amur leopard, WWF Russia and WWF China have organised and carried out a workshop on conservation for forestry inspectors focusing on protecting the animals’ forest habitat.

Extinction

The habitat of the Amur tiger and Amur leopard lies across the borders of Korea, North China and the Russian Far East. With only an estimated 30-35 individuals thought to living in the mountains and forests of this area, the Amur Leopard is the rarest big cat on earth and is facing an extremely high chance of extinction due to inbreeding, hunting and deforestation.

Genetics

The more famous Amur, or Siberian, Tiger is in much the same position with recent studies showing its effective wild population is about 35 genetically diverse individuals, despite 500 living in the wild.

Specialists

The series of lectures and classes took place in the Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin within the forests themselves and was led by Russian specialists who have over one year experience in Amur tiger conservation.

Chinese staff were shown Russian methods for increasing the number of hoofed animals in the forest and were provided with detailed information associated with protecting the Amur tiger and ways to overcome these.

“I am glad that this time in the workshop were involved people who, directly intended to protect the forest and the animals from poachers in China”  Said Sergei Aramil, Coordinator of WWF Russia Amur Branch of biodiversity. “They saw that the forest in the border provinces of China in general – somewhat similar to those in Russia, but with one difference: our forest “live” in all senses of the word. It is felt everywhere the presence of animals; there are numerous traces of their life. It was important to convey to the Chinese colleagues that you need, and most importantly, perhaps, to restore their home countries the number of ungulates, the Amur tiger and Amur leopard. “

Co-operation

Cross border cooperation between China and Russia has been held for environmental specialists in China in the past and such seminars have been going on for years. In 2009 a cooperation agreement was signed between the two nations in Vladivostok committing them to work together to preserve the Amur leopard and Amur Tiger and their habitat. One of first tasks now is to create cross-border protected areas so that the animals can exist untroubled by hunters in their multi national forest home.

“If we can effectively use the environmental experience of Russian colleagues, we might be able to restore the population of tigers and leopards in China.” said Jiang Guanshun, Project Coordinator of WWF China.