Tigers roaming Jewish Autonomous Oblast should have a safe ecological corridor to make tours to China

"To conserve rare species we should monitor the situation in a competent way and be two steps ahead. As the number of tigers in Evreiskaya Province grows the creation of the protected area becomes more important. Such PA will unite the tiger habitats on China’s northern board, in the Taipinggou National Nature Reserve, with tiger grouping in Russia, inhabiting the territory of the planned Pompeevsky National Park", notes Aleksey Kostyrya, a rare species project coordinator at WWF-Russia Amur branch, PhD. - “It is very important that the Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources of Russia and China negotiated the possibilities of establishing a transboundary reserve The Land of Big Cats which will unite the two PAs on both sides of the border.”

On July 29, in Harbin, China, a NEASPEC meeting took place as part of the International Forum for Tigers and Leopards Conservation in Transboundary Areas.

At the meeting, where priority spheres for cooperation between Russia,  China, and North Korea were discussed WWF Russia presented the results of the project on tigers and leopards movement between Russia and China. According to the project data, 17% of leopards and 42% tigers inhabiting the southeastern Primorye and adjacent China’ territories make round trips.

The spotted and stripped “international tourists” admit no borders, they freely travel and live in both countries. For instance, there are not less than 15 leopards fixed with camera traps in both countries and 19 tigers.

The new project proposed by WWF-Russia is designed to prepare the documents needed for establishing another transboundary PAs in the Maly Khingan.

WWF-Russia considers that such cooperation between Russia  and China on tiger conservation will foster establishing a PA in the Pompeevka River basin in Russia and enable this rear cat to restore in the Chinese north.

The Russian experience on tiger restoration in Evreiskaya Province proofs this is possible if meeting defìnite conditions, primarily providing the animals with enough prey and protection.