Once believed nearly extinct in China, the Siberian tiger, the largest member of the cat family, is making a comeback, the result of a decade-long effort to restore its natural habitat by banning logging, hunting and trapping. Chinese have been amazed not only by the apparent growth of the tiger population but also by how far the felines have spread. It made headlines around China this year when tigers were seen near Jiamusi, a city 140 miles from the Russian border. In China, the number of Siberian tigers living in the wild (far smaller than those in captivity) has been listed in government statistics at between 18 and 22 for some years. Nobody knows the exact number, because the Chinese don't have tracking collars on the tigers, but there could be as many as 40 now and that the popul...
Read MoreTag: Siberian tigers
The World Wildlife Fund said recently that at least 19 Siberian (Amur) tigers were killed by poachers in Russia since 2012. Body parts and skeletons of 19 dead tigers were discovered during seven criminal investigations by Russian authorities.There are only several hundred Amur tigers remaining in the wild, and most live in Russia’s Far East. Habitat destruction from logging and some development has reduced their historic range. Additionally, human activities such as poaching have contributed to their status as critically endangered. Poaching is driven by demand for tiger bones and other body parts for use in Chinese ‘medicine’ which is sometimes nothing more than superstition. In other words, consuming tiger parts has never been scientifically proven to have any medical benefits whatsoev
Read More