Russia’s tigers from poachers
enchanted by the creature’s charisma, power and natural right to roam in the land of its ancestors, hunting deer and surviving winter temperatures that would freeze a human being to death in five minutes.
He speaks wistfully of an animal that measures 10ft from whiskers to the tip of its striped tail padding through forests on the edge of the Amur, a river that meanders 1,700 miles across the eastern reaches of Siberia and into the Sea of Okhotsk.
In 1940, numbers were down to just 40. The post-war Soviet authorities banned hunting and numbers increased more than tenfold but the lure of rich pickings (a tiger’s carcass can be worth £50,000 on today’s international blackmarket) has once again seen the animal in peril. Anyone who has had the good fortune to hold communion with a fully grown Amur tiger, to marvel at its muscular frame and stare into its hypnotic eyes, will know the animal’s true value: priceless.
Prince Michael breaks into a smile as he explains his
encounter with the planet’s alpha predator. “I have been lucky to see Amur tigers,” he says, recalling the encounter with glee.
“I was on a motorcycle expedition through Russia in 2005 and it led straight through a conservation area where they have these wonderful creatures.”
THE PRINCE adds: “There were these Russian wildlife experts who were caring for tigers which had been either wounded by poachers or orphaned and it was here that I met two of these tigers. They were enormous. “We were being led around by the head man and one tiger had been reared by him and obviously recognised him. Although the tiger was lying there, his eyes followed this man, not in a hostile way but in a friendly way.
“It was very interesting to see the relationship between man and beast.
“I think they are extraordinarily evocative animals and one of the attractions about them is their rarity. In spite of so much work being done to protect them, their numbers are very much in decline.”
Yet the Prince remains optimistic. Russia has recently held a tiger summit in St Petersburg inviting all 13 tiger range states to discuss conservation, which concluded with a pledge to double tiger numbers by 2022.
At the same time, the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation has had remarkable success. The conservation team it supports in Russia last year detained 104 poachers, seized 55 weapons, supported 72 law enforcement inspectors and put out 53 forest fires.
“The quality of the Russian anti-poaching teams is very high. Many of them have backgrounds in the armed forces and they are not going to behave in a silly way or do anything irresponsible but there is a limit to what you can do if you find someone.
“What are you going to do? Shout at him to run away? It is a tough one but sometimes you have to take tough measures.”
To find out more details of how to help tigers and other endangered mammals visit davidshepherd.org