[FEL-L] Russia Establishes National Park for Endangered Siberian Tigers

[BigCatSimba at aol.com]

Russia Establishes National Park for Endangered Siberian Tigers  
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, June 8, 2007 (ENS) - The Russian government this week 
created the country's first national park for the Siberian tiger, following 
years of advocacy and conservation work by WWF and local environmental groups. 
Russia’s Ministry for Natural Resources announced the new park on Tuesday.  
Four thousand miles east of Moscow, the Zov Tigra - Roar of the Tiger - 
National Park stretches across 200,000 acres of the forested Sikhote-Alin mountain 
range in the Primorye region of the Russian Far East. It includes the 
watersheds of the Ussuri, Milogradovka and Kiyevka rivers.  
Although the region has several other strictly protected areas where no human 
activity is allowed and several wildlife management areas that permit natural 
resource extraction, this national park serves the dual role of protecting 
habitat and allowing for nature tourism.  
"We've dreamed of this moment for a long time now. Zov Tigra is a huge 
victory and is enormously important for the survival of the world's largest cat," 
said Dr. Darron Collins, managing director of WWF's Amur-Heilong Program in the 
United States.  
A typical male Amur tiger, the largest of the tiger subspecies, may weigh 
more than 250 kilograms (550 pounds) and measure nearly three meters (10 feet) 
from nose to tip of the tail.  
"Part of the reason why this protected area took so long to evolve is that we 
had to demonstrate an economically viable future for protecting a pretty big 
chunk of land and, for Zov Tigra, that future has got to include sustainable, 
ecologically-based tourism," said Collins. 
While some visitors may be drawn to Zov Tigra hoping to see the wild tiger, 
most will not catch a glimpse of this elusive predatorWhile some visitors may 
be drawn to Zov Tigra hoping to see the wild tiger, most will not catch a 
glimpse of this elusive predator.  
Visitors will see the Milogradovka River which flows through blue and pink 
canyons and Mount Oblachanaya which rises more than 6,000 feet out of the Sea of 
Japan.  
In addition to providing evidence justify the park's establishment, WWF had 
to protect the area to ensure that its natural resources were not destroyed 
while the paperwork was in process.  
"We hope Zov Tigra is the first of several new protected areas to be created 
in the Russian Far East," said Dr. Yuri Darman of WWF's Russian Far East 
office in Vladivostok.  
"Increased protection of habitat will help cement a future for these cats and 
will buffer against the continuous threat of poaching for their bones and 
skin," he said.  
In addition to poaching of tigers and their prey, increased logging and 
construction of roads, forest fires and inadequate law enforcement threaten the 
survival of the species.  
In the 1940s the Siberian tiger was on the brink of extinction, with no more 
than 40 tigers remaining in the wild. Now, although still listed as Critically 
Endangered by the IUCN-World Conservation Union, the Siberian tiger 
population has remained stable throughout the last decade with some 500 individuals.  
The recovery is due to vigorous anti-poaching efforts and other conservation 
measures undertaken by the Russians with support from many partners, including 
WWF. The global conservation organization funds anti-poaching patrols and 
ungulate recovery programs to increase numbers of prey animals.  
"The main purpose of the national park is to conserve biodiversity and 
develop eco-tourism in the region," said Yurii Bersenev, protected areas coordinator 
for WWF-Russia’s Far Eastern office.  
"Thanks to the positive cooperation between WWF and the Russian authorities, 
we were successful in establishing the park," said Bersenev. "We are happy to 
see this unique natural area finally getting the protection it deserves."  
"We should find a compromise between the region’s ecology and people’s 
influence on environment," said Primorye's Governor Sergei Darkin, opening a 
two-day ecological forum in Vladivostok on Wednesday.  
The "Vladivostok Times" reports that more than 600 participants from five 
Pacific Rim countries gathered for the Second International Ecological Forum 
Nature without Boundaries.  
Organized by Primorye's administration, the event gathered directors of 
environmental organizations, scientists, officials and businessmen from Russia, the 
United States, China, Japan and South Korea to discuss ecological issues of 
the Russian Far East.  
For more ENS coverage of Amur tiger recovery, see: _Russian Plan to Save 
World's Largest Tiger Succeeds_ 
(http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2005/2005-07-26-02.asp)   
For more about the Sikhote-Alin mountain range visit _Wild Russia_ 
(http://www.wild-russia.org/bioregion13/sikhote/13_sikhote.htm) .  
_http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2007/2007-06-08-01.asp_ 
(http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2007/2007-06-08-01.asp) 



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