Siberian tigers spotted in the wilds of NE China
By Wang Zhen
2015-02-25
China Central TV (CCTV) reported photos of some endangered wild Siberian tigers recently in a forest in Jilin Province, on Feb 24, using infrared cameras to capture the tigers on film, along with sika deer and roe deer.
The photos were taken on Changbai Mountain‘s Hunchun Animal Reserve, on the border with Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Liang Jianmin, a Hunchun Siberian Tiger specialist, in looking at the short video clips from one site, exclaimed, "This is exciting," and added, "We usually go collect some camera results every two months."
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Infrared camera captures a photo of wild Siberain tiger in Hunchun Nature Reserve. [Photo/ CCTV] |
The animal reserve has many of these infrared cameras sites to keep track of rarely viewed animals on its 100,000 hectares, so the CCTV report also showed Siberian tiger paw prints.
The number of Siberain tigers in Jilin province has grown considerably in recent years thanks to its forest conservation efforts, especially its ecosystem protection, since 1998.
That year saw no more than four wild tigers living in the Changbai Mountain area, but the number now around 11, based on a 2013 study, according to Jiang Jinsong, of the Jilin Forestry Dept, who exclaims, "We’re so thrilled to find tigers in the Hunchun reserve."
The Siberian tiger mainly inhabits northeastern China, especially Jilin, Russia's Far East region, and the Korean Peninsula, with the total number of the species estimated at 500.
