Data of China's first released Siberia tiger helps improve big cat protection
The one-year monitoring data of the first wild Siberian tiger that was successfully rescued and released into the wild in northeast China has played a significant role in better promoting targeted protection and management of the country's Siberian tiger population.
The three-year-old male wild Siberian tiger strayed into a village in Heilongjiang on April 23, 2021, triggering panic and injuring a farmer. It was captured by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and was then named "Wandashan No.1". After being released into the wild on May 18 last year, the tiger was spotted more than 10 times by infrared cameras and a monitoring system in the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park.
The movements of the tiger have covered a mileage of 3,306.32 kilometers and an area of 9,638 square kilometers from the day it returned to the wild to May 11, 2022. And half of its movement area was in the park, up to 4,566.7 square kilometers.
"Our hidden camera footage captured 'Wandanshan No.1' after releasing it to the wild on Dec 27, 2021. Its movement and mental health in the camera footage appear to be very well. Wearing a satellite-tracking collar doesn't affect its normal activities, which means it has been able to better adapt to the wild environment," said Gu Jiayin, researcher with the Feline Research Center of the administration.
The monitoring of predation including prey selection and the predator-prey cycle is the most important basis for judging whether the tiger can survive in the wild.
The monitoring team has found 12 pieces of evidence at its predation sites with main preys of roe deer and wild boar.
The data collected through the electronic tracking collar worn on the neck of the tiger, which show an increase in the tiger's daytime activities since winter began, can be used to guide local residents to prevent their activities of production and life from overlapping with the tiger's frequent activities, thus to reduce direct tiger-human encounter.
"Through our monitoring on 'Wandashan No.1', we've found out that its movement has gradually extended to the hinterland of the park. But we've also found out that there still exist some barriers against its further movement onto wider areas. After conducting analysis of the routes of movement of the tiger, we think that we can find ways of unclogging the channels for direct contact between the tigers inside the park and those coming from the outside world," said Jiang Guangshun, deputy executive director of the research center.
Experts say China has gradually established a complete system of animal rescue and release techniques through a series of activities to track and analyze the movements of "Wandashan No.1".
These activities have also provided an example for the follow-up rescue and release of wild Siberian tigers and other big cats, and have contributed to accumulating valuable experience in the research on releasing captive-bred Siberian tigers into the wild.
After releasing the tiger into the wild, the local forestry and grass bureaus carried out intensified door-to-door safety publicity for local residents to avoid tiger-human encounter.
"The appearance of 'Wandashan No.1' hasn't brought interference and impact on the normal life of local residents, because the animal tends to actively refrain from entering residential areas and from directly contacting humans," Gu said.
As one of the 10 pilot projects for China's national park system, the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park covers a large area that includes Heilongjiang Province and Jilin Province along the Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea borders. The 14,900-square-kilometer park serves as the core habitat for Siberian tigers and Amur leopards in northeast China.