Will a young tiger cub make it in the wild?
By
Yulia Fomenko, World Wildlife Fund
13 Mar 2008.
The starving little
tiger cub took advantage of owners’ absence to kill a dog and eat him before
seeking shelter in his box. That’s where members of the Tiger Inspectorate found
the cub, not far from Vyazemskoye settlement of Khabarovsky Province, last
January. They named her Angara.
A second tiger cub, probably from the same litter, was not so lucky. A truck
driver found him in critical condition on the road side, 14 km off Vyazemskoye
village, but the little animal was exhausted and died in spite of all the
efforts taken by the veterinarians.
Meanwhile, Angara was staying safe and warm at the temporary base for rescued
wild animals in Razdolnaya, under the supervision of Tiger Inspectorate
specialists and veterinarians.
Questions were raised about the future of Angara. Should she be raised at the
Utes rehabilitation centre in Khabarovskii Province and then be released into
the wild? A similar experiment with two young tigresses was done in 2001. But
they were killed by poachers.
“Over the last 2 years, 11 tiger cubs were taken from the wild and none of them
had been brought back to the taiga, said Yury Darman, head of WWF-Russia Armur
branch. The 5 cubs who survived were moved to the zoos.”
“Now we hope that with the age of the cub and
her experience, she could survive in taiga - with our help of course. We want to
catch this opportunity to bring at least one cub back into the wild.”
The Tiger Inspectorate, the Department for nature resources control of the Far
Eastern Federal Okrug, the commission on rare species of the Russian Academy of
Science and public organizations such as Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS),
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Utes rehabilitation centre
supported the project.
“We hope that in August-September, after rehabilitation course in Utes centre,
Angara could be released into the wild with a radio collar”, said Yury Darman.
“We’ve done everything to prepare the cub for further rehabilitation, but we are
seriously concerned about her future”, said Vitaly Starostin, deputy head of the
Tiger Inspectorate.
As only the militia has the power to control natural resources use there is no
proper registration of poaching cases.
But the number of injured and killed tigers is a strong indicator of the growth
of tiger poaching: five cases of injured and killed tigers have been registered
since the beginning of this year. It is believed the toll might be five times
higher.
“Our last hope to change the situation in nature protection, and therefore the
situation of the cub, is the creation of the Russian Committee on Ecology, with
full rights and liabilities”, said Vitaly Starostin.
Edward Kruglov, director of Utes rehabilitation centre, and Vasilii Solkin,
director of Zov Taigi nature conservation centre came to take Angara at the end
of February.
“The whole team was seriously concerned about the cub reaction after a 16 hours
trip, said Vasilii Solkin. When we arrived, we placed the tigress in a closed
cage. And we were relieved the morning after to see she had eaten the meat we
gave her.”
Angara is now living in a large enclosure, located far from human eyes, to
minimize contacts with humans is one of the main conditions of rehabilitation.
“She has to learn at least two important things once she is released into the
wild, said Vasilii Solkin. First: to stay away from humans and try to be out of
sight at a remote distance. Second: to learn hunting by herself.”
Normally, the mother trains the cubs to do this during their first year. Now,
Edward Kruglov will replace the mother.
“We need to get a license for the cub maintenance, which means collecting
several documents and sending them to Moscow, said Edward Kruglov. Then, we need
to train Angara’s hunting skills, and to save her natural instinct to recognize
the taste and smell of the game.”
“We already implemented this methodology and can manage it. We are also
concerned about her release: the place is to be determined in advance and should
be a protected area.”
Environmentalists from Zov taigi centre will observe the development and future
condition of the cub.
Follow up the news on
http://www.wwf.ru/eng
Great Cats and
Wild Canid Act
Wolves, foxes,
tigers, leopards and other species of wild dogs and cats are important to the
stability of park ecosystems around the world. One of the best examples of
their impact was recently demonstrated at
Yellowstone National Park where the reintroduction of the gray wolf to the
region has had a significant impact on the park’s balance of nature. Here
wolves are playing an important role in keeping elk and bison in check which in
turn is helping to maintain the health of the park’s streamside ecosystem,
including two species of cottonwoods and the myriad of roles they play in
erosion control, stream health, and maintaining diverse plant and animal life.
The Great Cats and Wild Canid Act
will help rare Ethiopian wolves in the highlands parks and other protected areas
of Ethiopia as well as numerous others species of wild cats and canids around
the globe.
Join others across the country in
helping to get this important Act of Congress made into law by visiting the
Wildlife Conservation Society
online action center.
Maned wolves live in many of the parks and other
protected areas in South America.
Photo by Rick LoBello
