Winter is usually the toughest season for the big cats and poaching tends to become rampant in the three months before Spring Festival, China's traditional New Year's holiday.

Forests in Northeast China are covered by 50 centimeters of snow on average in the winter, making it easy for wildlife experts to carry out fieldwork by following footprints that animals leave behind. Yet, the same conditions are also advantageous to poachers.

A pair of Siberian tigers have fun in the snow at a zoo in Yantai city, Shandong province on Dec 6, 2012.[Photo/CFP]

Peng Jianyu, an anti-poaching officer with the World Wide Fund for Nature's China tiger program, said she has helped organize a team that will be composed of more than 50 rangers and will be charged with patrolling 15 reservations in the region.

To catch animals such as roe deer and hares, poachers usually set traps or snares on routes they are known to take, according to Liang Feng'en, a ranger at Nuanquanhe forest, who worked as a hunter 30 years ago.

The traps often make it either impossible for an ensnared animal to escape or wound them so badly that they can no longer hunt.

Two tigers have been caught in traps in recent years - one in 2006 and one in 2011. Both ended up dying of hunger.

The Chinese government has also been doing more to establish protection areas for Siberian tigers, as it tries to restore the predator's habitat and help the various animals it preys on increase their numbers.

Two tiger conservation zones - Wangqing and Nuanquanhe - are applying for national level conservation status, and several other forestry bureaus are also strengthening their efforts to protect wildlife.

"Past exploitation has led to deforestation and a decrease in wildlife numbers," said Liang Zhuo, the nephew of Liang Feng'en and a wildlife protection official who has worked to restore the environment and protect wildlife for more than 10 years.

"It is time for us to repay the debt and strengthen environmental protection. This is not only for ourselves but also for our children and grandchildren."

He said the work has led to more sightings of tigers in the past three years in Suiyang and nearby areas.

Contact the writers at wuyong@chinadaily.com.cn and liuce@chinadaily.com.cn