News Archive

(March 28, 2011)   -   Since 2002 WCS has been using camera trap monitoring in an attempt to understand the dynamics of the world’s last remaining Far Eastern leopards, which are hanging on only in Southwest Primorye, a sliver of land on the Russian-Chinese border. Just as interesting as what is happening to the leopard population in this region, however, is another question – What is going on with tigers??

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(February 27, 2011)   -   The Year of the Tiger – 2010 – was far from the most fortunate for Siberian tigers, at least for some. Within the first 5 months of the year, the Siberian Tiger Project lost 3 of our collared individuals, and then at the end of May, we tragically lost the last one – the tigress Galya. This death shocked the Project’s entire team – all these events were too sudden and unexpected. We had followed Galya for 9 years, practically from birth. Collecting information about ...

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(February 21, 2011)   -    On a cold but bright and sunny day on 28th of January, tracks left in the snow by a female leopard lead us to the bottom of a steep slope and a clump of deer hair. We looked above us and saw a drag-line up the slope, the leopard had evidently pulled the deer kill up the rock-face. As we ungracefully scrambled up the snow-covered slope, grappling hold every tree to pull ourselves up, we admired the strength of the leopard required to pull a dead weight of at least 45 kg. After twenty m...

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(October 24, 2010)   -    With only 25-30 Far Eastern leopards left in the wild, it is a rare treat to capture two leopards in one photo (see left). As our automated camera traps use 35mm film, the quality of this photo is far from perfect, but it looks like a mother and her one-year old cub.  If so, this is proof that the Far Eastern leopard population is reproducing in our study area. Evidence from our eight-year camera trapping survey in the region, moreover, demonstrates that the leopard populati...

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(October 15, 2010)   -   From March through May 2010 WCS conducted a survey of tigers using camera trapping in Khabarovsk Province of the Russian Far East in a portion of the Khor River Basin -- the one of 16 monitoring units where annual assessments of trends in the population of Amur tigers, their prey and their habitat have been ongoing since 1997. The goal is developing statistically robust methods for assessing the Amur tiger population. Currently, tiger numbers in Russia are estimated through winter surveys of t...

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(July 12, 2010)   -   On June 1, 2010, at approximately 7:45 am, “Galia,” the last study animal of the Siberian Tiger Project, was shot within the village of Terney because of the dangers she posed to local citizens. For the many people who knew of Galia, who had been monitored by the Siberian Tiger Project for the past 10 years, this will come as a shock. This death marks the fourth radio-collared animal to die in the past 10 months either of natural causes, or due to conflict with humans. Pres...

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(June 17, 2010)   -   The threats to the survival of the world’s last 30 Far Eastern leopards are unfortunately numerous. Leopards and their prey fall victim to poachers, the leopard’s habitat is under pressure from logging and development projects and – as if this isn’t enough – the animals are slowly losing their home due to frequent fires… In response, WCS and the Slavyanka Municipality are conducting an exciting project that could become a turning point in the fight against fi...

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(May 17, 2010)   -    With a new radio-collar and a new litter of cubs, eight-year-old tigress Galia has been keeping very busy this spring, to the delight of WCS researchers and staff. With Galia's radio-collar batteries fading, in March Siberian Tiger Project specialists set out by helicopter to provide her a new collar. Under observation since 2002, Galia is one of WCS's longest-studied tigers, and as such she is not only a source of a wealth of important information needed for tiger conservation, but is als...

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(April 12, 2010)   -   A new tiger report card released by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reveals how the iconic big cats are faring in eight key landscapes spanning nine Asian countries. “In this Year of the Tiger, the best way we can celebrate these iconic big cats is by giving them a future,” said WCS President and CEO Steven E. Sanderson. Download the full Tiger Report Card to learn more about how you can support WCS efforts to conserve tigers in Russia.

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(March 25, 2010)   -   Over 100 Russian and international biologists and conservationists gathered for an international conference co-hosted by WCS, “The Amur Tiger in Northeast Asia: Planning for the 21st Century”, held in Vladivostok from March 16-18. The goals of the conference were two-fold: to report the most recent scientific information on Amur tiger ecology, and to discuss key conservation challenges and solutions for the coming century. Most importantly, the meeting provided an opportunity to revi...

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