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SIBERIAN-TIGER-CUBS
10 wild Siberian tiger cubs newly bred in China’s national park
HARBIN, Dec 21, 2019 (BSS/XINHUA) – The China National Park for Siberian
Tigers and Amur Leopards in northeast Heilongjiang Province has seen its wild
tiger population increase.
Since it was established as China’s first national park for the endangered
species in 2017, the park has seen 10 wild Siberian tiger cubs newly bred,
said Liang Zhuo, a veteran tiger expert.
He said he now worries about his personal safety when making field trips
to the park as the number of the big carnivores has increased.
Spanning an area of over 1.46 million hectares in the provinces of Jilin
and Heilongjiang, the park covers long stretches of mountain forests.
The 10 tiger cubs were born to the original 27 wild Siberian tigers living
in the area. The habitats of the endangered species are mostly distributed in
the Russian Far East and the northeast China region.
China has been intensifying the efforts to save the wild animals through
the protection of their natural forest habitat, including the introduction of
a logging ban in 2014.
The national park bordering Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea has created a natural corridor for the wild species to traverse, said
Liang.
The national park administration has set up infrared cameras to monitor
the activities of the wild animals. Wardens make regular patrols in the park
and replace batteries and memory cards in the cameras.
With the protection efforts, the number of black bears, wild boars, roe
deer and other animals in the mountain area has also increased. The park
administration found the density of wild boar in 2018 was 1.91 per square km,
an increase of 1.34 over 2011. Wild boar and deer are the staple food of wild
Siberian tigers.
Jiang Guangshun, executive deputy director of the Feline Research Center
of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said tigers are at the
top of the food chain. The tiger’s revival suggests that the food chain is
complete in the national park with forest resources being restored.
BSS/XINHUA/FI/ 1533 hrs