In the last year of the tiger in the last century, scientists from China, the United States and Russia conducted a joint survey in the northeastern region of the mainland and announced that there was no longer a breeding population of Siberian tigers on the mainland.
The results of this survey mean that the Siberian tiger, which has an ancient history on the mainland, is likely to disappear.
Just when there was nothing that could be done to protect the Siberian tiger, a Siberian tigress named "October" arrived from faraway Siberia and continued the lineage of the mainland Siberian tiger population.
Thanks to the efforts of all sectors of society, Siberian tigers now roam comfortably on the white snow and enjoy the beauty of their motherland.
The decline of the Siberian tiger
The Siberian tiger, also known as the Siberian tiger, is the largest modern tiger in the world and the largest living cat.
Strictly speaking, the Siberian tiger lives only in the far eastern corner of Siberia, and most of the population lives in the northeastern part of the mainland, so it is more appropriate to call it a Siberian tiger.
Historically, the Siberian tiger was originally endemic to the mainland. At that time, the Qing government was forced to cede part of the northeast land to Russia, resulting in the Siberian tigers on this land being shared with Russia from the exclusive use of the mainland to the mainland.
In the northeastern part of the continent, there were originally many Siberian tigers, but by the end of the 19th century, the number of tigers was still around 2,000, and the population was still in good condition.
At the same time, in Russia, the number of Siberian tigers is only about 800 due to frequent hunting.
Later, the Qing government opened up the Northeast One
In some forbidden areas, people have invaded the northeast rope land to build houses. In the boom of development, all the trees were hacked to death with axes.
In 1903, in order to take advantage of the mainland's resources, Russia built the Eastern Railway on mainland land. Wherever the railway passed, the natural environment was severely damaged and large areas of forest were cut down.
As trees continue to decline, much of the Siberian tiger's habitat has been lost and fragmented, leading to a dramatic decline in the Siberian tiger population.
In the first half of the 20th century, Siberian tigers were hunted in large numbers in Russia, with an average of 150 Siberian tigers killed by shotguns every year. In the 30s of the 20th century, the number of Siberian tigers in Russia was only 20 to 30 individuals.
Under the rampant hunting in Russia, many Siberian tigers fled to the mainland for refuge, however, with the opening of the Eastern Railway, many Russian hunters took this train to the northeast of the mainland to hunt Siberian tigers in exchange for economic benefits. Advantage.
In the first 20 or 30 years of the 20th century, at least 1,500 Siberian tigers were hunted by Russian hunters in the northeastern part of the continent.
In 1947, Russia realized the importance of tiger protection and began issuing decrees banning the hunting of Siberian tigers.
During the period when the Siberian tiger was protected in Russia, the Siberian tiger was defined as a "pest" on the mainland and was actively hunted by the masses, which led to a further decline in the population of the Siberian tiger on the mainland, and some Siberian tiger tigers chose to flee Russian shelter in their homeland.
In 1957, there were fewer than 200 Siberian tigers on the continent, and the population was experiencing a serious crisis.
In 1977, a law was enacted prohibiting the hunting of Siberian tigers. While this means that the Siberian tiger has ended its perennial hunting life, the current situation is that unidentified poaching continues, posing a potential threat to the Siberian tiger.
In 1998, coinciding with the last year of the tiger of the 20th century, scientists from China, the United States and Russia came to the northeast of the mainland to conduct joint research on wild Siberian tigers. I finally announced that there is no longer a breeding population of Siberian tigers on the mainland.
This year, the "Natural Forest Protection Project" will be launched to reduce commercial logging of natural forests and restore wildlife habitats.
In order to protect the Siberian tigers, we have encountered many obstacles in our search for a way out.
Yamagami Yarai
Uncontrolled and indiscriminate hunting, combined with habitat loss due to population expansion, has led to a declining population of Siberian tigers.
Experts believe that there is no longer a breeding population of Siberian tigers on the mainland, which means that these animals, which have lived on the continent for millions of years, will soon disappear from Chinese soil.
Protecting Siberian tigers is not
Experts, scholars and government departments are constantly looking for ways to protect Siberian tigers.
In 2006, Professor Ge Jianping's team of tigers and leopards from Beijing Normal University traveled to the snow-covered Northeast China, traversing forests and snowfields in search of the endangered Siberian tiger.
With the belief in their hearts, even if their hands and feet are numb from the cold, the team members will not miss any moment to see the Siberian tiger.
The year after arriving, the Haw Par research team finally took the first photo of a Siberian tiger.
The Siberian tiger could not save humanity. Only when male and female tigers are able to reproduce normally can there be any hope of recovering the Siberian tiger population.
But this hope gradually turned to despair in the long wait. It was not until 2010, the first year of the tiger of the 21st century, that the first female Siberian tiger entered China.
The first to capture images of the Siberian tiger was an infrared camera deployed by the research team. At the time, the Siberian tiger was only a flash, and researchers couldn't clearly see what it looked like when looking at the images.
The next day, the researchers saw the carcass of a sika deer in the snow, suggesting that this deer has a strong ability to hunt.
Because this woman Siberian tiger appears in October, which is why this tiger is called "October".
With the implementation of environmental protection policies on the mainland in recent decades, the primeval forests of the Northeast have been well restored, food has become abundant, and it is no longer harassed by poachers. "October" settled here with great satisfaction.
The research team was very excited about the high probability that the "October" settlement on the mainland would attract male tigers, allowing the continent's Siberian tiger population to recover and develop.
The Siberian tiger's estrus season usually lasts from December to February, during which time the Siberian tigers form pairs more temporarily.
Female tigers in heat send messages to males through calls or smells. After receiving the message, the male tiger cautiously approaches the female's territory for mating.
Sure enough, a male Siberian tiger named "Kuno" came from Siberia.
After the meeting of "Dry Field" and "October", the two tigers became the perfect couple, contributing to the population of Siberian tigers on the mainland. But by chance, another male Siberian tiger arrived.
This later male Siberian tiger was named "White Mountain" and appeared to be much stronger than "Kuno". When two male tigers meet, a battle for mating rights soon breaks out.
After the battle, the defeated figure of "Kuye" appeared in the infrared camera, and at this time he limped, apparently seriously injured.
Some tigers who lose in the pairing match will wait for the tigress to give birth to their cubs, waiting for the opportunity to bite the cubs to death and make the tigress come into heat again.
However, due to maternal instinct, tigress will desperately protect her cubs and will hardly succeed.
After the defeat of the "dry field", it disappeared from the monitoring field. Clearly, he didn't choose to do that. No one knows whether his future will be stronger in the face of a difficult survival or if he will die in the cold night.
The winner, "White Mountain", won the favor of "October" with his strong strength and became the chosen one of "October".
In the wild, male tigers have a larger territory than female tigers, and the territories of the two overlap. The territory of a male tiger may overlap with that of several females.
The two tigers spent six years together. During the non-breeding season, they choose to stay in their territory. They usually pass messages to each other by leaving scents or footprints on the ground. They meet again during the breeding season.
During the 10 years she spent in China, she formed a temporary family with four male tigers and successfully gave birth to four tiger cubs.
When these cubs are two years old, they leave their mothers and create their own territory.
Some people say that "October" heard the shouts of Changbai Mountain, came out of the snow, and fulfilled the mission of restoring the Siberian tiger population.
As of 2022, the Siberian tiger population has spread to the top of Changbai Mountain. And "October", who created all this, is considered to be the true god of the mountains.
Current status of continental Siberian tigers
When the tiger and leopard research team from Beijing Normal University entered the primeval forests of Northeast China to explore Siberian tigers and leopards for 10 years, they witnessed the increasing number of Siberian tigers thanks to the joint efforts of people.
When the population recovered, the "island problem" gradually emerged and needed to be resolved.
Tigers are solitary animals with a strong sense of territory, and only a complete and effective territory can allow them to survive. However, the suitable habitat area in the reserve is small and distributed in strips, with sporadic distribution of foundations, pastures, roads and railways, which is extremely unsuitable for the survival of Siberian tigers.
Faced with the problem of restoring the Siberian tiger population, the designation of an independent and complete protected area has become a top priority. On December 5, 2016, the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park System Pilot Plan was officially approved, and the mainland set aside more than 14,000 square kilometers in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces to rebuild the homeland of tigers and leopards. Leopard.
Nearly 100,000 inhabitants live in a demarcated area of 14,100 square kilometers, and once the plan is implemented, a large number of residents will be forced to abandon their livelihoods in agriculture, animal husbandry and other industries.
The Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park has actively organized the transfer of personnel and planned more than 10,000 public welfare posts, so that villagers who originally relied on the mountains to survive can develop other industries to make way for the survival of Siberian tigers.
In order to jointly protect the cross-border behavior of Siberian tigers, China and Russia have carried out joint monitoring, sharing scientific research data, and in-depth cooperation.
In addition to cross-border cooperation, the Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park Management Office also maintains contact with international organizations in China to learn from each other's experiences and explore reasonable paths for Siberian tiger conservation.
Thanks to the efforts of all sectors of society, the conservation of Siberian tigers has achieved remarkable results.
According to survey data, there are currently about 500 Siberian tigers in the world. There are about 50 Siberian tigers in the wild in China's Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, and their numbers are expanding.
All these achievements began with the arrival of the tigress "October".
The arrival of "October" was originally just a small dot, but now this dot has spread to a surface, covering forests, oceans, snowfields.
The emergence of "October" is a new starting point for endangered populations, a new turning point for an unbalanced environment, and a continuation of precious biological resources.
Tried to change the route, just because there was a tiger on the mountain, its roar moved the forest sea, and its bloodline was inherited for a hundred years.