China and Russia have taken a significant step toward preserving one of the world's most majestic and endangered big cats—the Siberian tiger. On Thursday, a Sino-Russian joint research laboratory was inaugurated at Northeast Forestry University in Heilongjiang Province, marking a pivotal collaboration in wildlife conservation efforts.
With a team of over 20 experts from both nations, the new lab is a collaborative initiative between China's Feline Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and Russia's Institute of Ecology and Evolution A.N. Severtsov of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The facility focuses on critical areas such as wildlife ecology and management, Siberian tiger feeding and breeding, and wildlife genetics, aiming to boost the survival prospects of this iconic species.
Siberian tigers, also known as Amur tigers, are renowned as the largest cats on Earth. Historically, they primarily roamed the birch forests of eastern Russia but have also been spotted in northeast China and potentially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Once teetering on the brink, with only about 10 wild Siberian tigers believed to inhabit China by the late 20th century, their numbers have begun to recover thanks to robust conservation efforts.
Adapted to survive the harsh climates of their habitats, Siberian tigers boast dense fur and a distinctive paler coat with fewer dark stripes compared to other tiger subspecies. Their ability to traverse vast distances between China and Russia underscores the necessity of international cooperation in their conservation, as emphasized by Liu Ming, an associate researcher from the International Society of Zoological Sciences.
Heilongjiang Province has been at the forefront of these efforts, establishing multiple nature reserves to safeguard Siberian tigers, Amur leopards, and other wildlife. Initiatives like forest protection, wetland restoration, and the crackdown on illegal activities detrimental to wildlife resources have significantly contributed to the resurgence of these rare and endangered animals.
The new lab builds on a longstanding partnership that began in 2010 when China and Russia signed a cooperation agreement to protect Siberian tigers and Amur leopards. According to Jiang Guangshun, director of the laboratory expert committee, the lab will foster an international team dedicated to endangered animal conservation, deepen theoretical and technical exchanges on Siberian tiger protection, and enhance data sharing between the two countries.
This collaborative endeavor not only aims to secure the future of the Siberian tiger but also serves as a model for international cooperation in wildlife conservation, highlighting the collective responsibility we share in protecting our planet's most vulnerable species.
Reference(s):
China, Russia launch joint lab on Siberian tiger conservation
cgtn.com
