Growing Siberian tiger population poses challenges
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E-mail Xinhua, May 24, 2013
While the growth of the Siberian tiger population has provided some comfort to animal protection experts, increasing human-tiger conflicts in northeast China have created new challenges.
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A Siberian tiger [File photo/Baidu] |
Lang Jianmin, an expert and official from the Hunchun National Siberian Tiger Nature Reserve in northeast China's Jilin Province, said the tigers have been frequently spotted in residential areas and have also preyed on livestock.
"Eating livestock may cause the tigers to become more domesticated and ruin their relationship with local residents. If one of them eats sickened livestock, the entire species could be harmed," Lang said.
Lang said that while expanding the species' population has been no easy task, the challenges ahead will be equally daunting.
The State Forestry Administration announced on Tuesday that the number of wild Siberian tigers had increased to 18 to 22. The government has a goal of bringing the number to 40 by 2022.
According to data from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, only 12 to 16 tigers lived in the wild in 2000.
MIXED FEELINGS
In the county-level city of Hunchun, the tigers' recovering population has brought mixed reactions from locals.
Wang Zenxiang, a resident of the nearby village of Xigou, said he saw a tiger in his yard on the morning of March 23.
"After hearing some noise, I thought it was my cattle coming back home. However, when I opened the door to my backyard and turned on a flashlight, I felt my breath disappear -- it was a tiger!" Wang said.
Although the tiger left without incident, some of his cattle were attacked by tigers in April, as the fence he erected in his backyard to keep them out failed to do so.
No humans have been injured or killed by tigers in Hunchun, although two villagers narrowly escaped a tiger while looking for their missing cattle on May 18.
Under a compensation program enacted by the Jilin provincial government in 2006, individuals can get compensation from provincial and county governments if their livestock or poultry are killed by wild animals.
From 2006 to 2011, the provincial government doled out 38 million yuan (6.1 million U.S. dollars) in compensation for 13,811 wild animal attacks.
To minimize local residents' losses and prevent public backlash, Hunchun border police started a campaign on Monday to educate locals about first aid and emergency response methods in the event of a wild tiger attack.
On Monday, farmers found two sets of footprints which experts say belong to two wild Siberian tigers -- a mother and her cub -- in a ginseng plantation in Hunchun.
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