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NORTHERN TIGER PROJECT

January – November 2013

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ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION ACTIVITIES

Anyuisky National Park Department on Ecological Education

Over the first half year over ...... Took part in the activities on environmental education in

Nanaisky District. Among the main events were:

- a Week of the Nanai people' s culture

- a Day of Environmental Knowledge

- working out a game for the district schools "Saving forests from fires"

- cleaning up of the local rivers and lakes

- "The Far Eastern taiga" exhibition compiled of the best kids' works

- planting Korean pine seedlings

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In August two weeks long expeditions was held in the Park’s territory for 20 kids. The visitors

center and ethno village were actively used by the expedition participants.

TIGER PARADE IN ANYISKY NATIONAL PARK

Over 120 kids and grownups have marched the street of Troitskoye village, the center of Nanai

District of Khabarovsky Province – this is how the World Environment Day was celebrated in

Anyuisky National Park.

The Park’s staff, teachers and kids were among those who celebrated the holiday. Some kids

groups have invented special costumes, composed rhymed cadences. They carried banners

showing animals, birds and appeals to save northern tigers together.

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AMUR TIGER MONITORING

The monitoring was conducted on the model plot called "Tiger house” located in Anyuisky

National Park and outside . Besides, the Park's specialists registered tigers tracks during the

winter route census.

Over two stages of the field work (December 20-23, 2012, and February 13-17, 2013) in the

model plot 10 tigers were registered (compared to 2 tigers in 2012): among them 4 males, 1

female with a cub, 4 tiger of undefined sex. Such significant growth is explained by a mass

concentration of wild boar due to a rich harvest of the main forage.

According to the monitoring data received in the Park and the adjacent territories 17 tigers were

registered over two stages of the field work (December 14-25, 2012, and February 14-20, 2013).

Among them 5 males, 3 females with one cub each, 2 females without cubs, 4 tigers of undefined

sex.

The Amur tiger is being researched with the help of camera traps. The first tiger was captured in

the Park on March 22, 2013.

In late May the Park' s Department on Science summed up the results: in total 21 camera traps

were working on four model plots. It was defined that the cameras have registered a grown male

and a female that received special passports:http://wwf.ru/resources/news/article/eng/11359

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Passport Individual identification code – TG1

Sex: Male

Tracks dimensions: front right paw Track width Track length Palmar corn

(heel) width

Palmar corn

(heel) length

13.0 cm 10.5 cm 11.0 cm 7.5 cm

Body identification zones

Right body side:

Left body side: Forehead:

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Miscellaneous:

Unfortunately, the catastrophic flood in the Amur this summer and fall hindered the Park’ s

administration from completing tiger monitoring activities.

Not only wild ungulates have suffered from the flood. On September 17, a dead adult tiger (aged

6 years) was found on the left bank of the Amur River. Its death was caused by drowning.

In December 2013 the first stage of the planned tiger monitoring will take place in the Park and

the adjacent territories. The second stage will be completed in spring 2014 allowing the Park’s

administration to get data on tiger number over three years of the project implementation.

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Auto- road connecting Khabarovsk and the village of Troitskoye

ANTI POACHING ACTIVITIES

The area of the “Northern Tiger” project is protected from poaching by three organizations:

Anyuisky National Park, Hunting Department of Khabarovsky Province and Khabarovsky

Province State Directorate for Wildlife Protection and Protected Areas.

Anyuisky Park Department of Protection (Stepan Kirillin is the Department's chief) is in charge

of controlling the roads, feeding fields for ungulates and watching in the check points. This

activities allow protecting the Park' territory from poachers. In total, 175 protocols were issued

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in the Park. 10 protocols out of them were on illegal hunt. 6 fire arms were confiscated and

delivered to the Police. 7 cases were brought to court.

In 2013 (01 January- 15 November) , specialists of the Hunting Department of Khabarovsky

Province (Director Alexander Ermolin) and Khabarovsky Province State Directorate for

Wildlife Protection and Protected Areas (Director Yury Kolpak) revealed and suppressed 94

violations of hunting regulations in Khoso Nature Park and adjacent areas. 101 patrolling raids

were conducted, 11 fire arms were confiscated. .

On 3 - 5 October 2013, on the territory of «Orlinoye» state hunting estate, WWF Russia jointly

with the Wildlife and Hunting Management Department of Primorsky province, together with

veterinarians of Primorsky State Agricultural Academy, conducted a training seminar for staff of

“conflict” groups of Hunting Departments of Primorsky and Khabarovsky provinces on how to

use the equipment for animal immobilization. Participants of the workshop had not an easy task:

to ensure the transportation of two Himalayan bears from one place to another, situated at a

considerable distance. Moreover, to provide veterinary care for the Himalayan bear which was

injured after a fight with another bear.

WAR AGAINST POACHERS

On March 4, 2013 two snow mobiles were stopped by Khabarovsky Province State Directorate

for Wildlife Protection and Protected Areas in Nanaisky District. The snow mobiles with no

registration plates were driven by three men with rifles. When checking the attached sledge three

illegally hunted bears and one roe deer were revealed.

The rifles and the animals ' meat were confiscated and the cases were brought to court.

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Pictures presented by Khabarovsky Province Hunting Department

On August 201, Hunting Department inspectors stopped a motor boat on the Ulika River with

poachers, confiscated fire arms and several sacks with a red deer meat.

Seminar for the staff of Hunting Departments specialized groups on conflict resolution

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NEW EQUIPMENT FOR RANGERS.

Tents, GPS navigators, boats “Rotan”, solar accumulator stations, and spare parts for off-roaders

were purchased

PROJECT’S INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH

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In May 2013, a group of experts of WWF Sweden and Northern Ark Fund visited the Park to get

acquainted with the project's results and to discuss its perspectives for the second stage to be run

in 2014-2017.

In late September 2013, two Park’s specialists, deputy Director for Science and Wildlife

Management Andrey Subbotin, and senior ranger Anton Pushkaryov, paid a visit to Finland and

Sweden to learn the experience of the hunting estates on supplementary feeding of ungulates and

ecotourism development.

They also visited the Nordens Ark Zoo, one of the project’s partners, and discussed the future of

the project and meet the staff of the Scientific Department.

A group of experts from WWF Sweden and Nordens Ark are coming to the Park in March 2014

to evaluate the results of the project over three years.

The report prepared by Viktor Nikiforov

with support of Pavel Fomenko, Andrei Subbotin, Sergei Aramiliev, Aleksandr Samarin, Marina

Ridel, Yulia Fomenko, Yuri Kolpak

25/11/2013