° 2014 AnnuAl report ° ConservAtion projeCts in the

Office 409, 2 Petra Velikogo Street , 690091 Tel/Fax: +7 (423) 220-50-48 E-mail: [email protected] Web-site: www.fundphoenix.org

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

BACKGrounD

South of the Russian Far East (RFE) is home to 95% of the remaining population of the tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as . Today, an estimated 350 to 500 of this subspecies roam the frontier region bordering China and the Sea of Japan. Although sustained conservation efforts over recent years have moved the Amur tigers from “critically endangered” to “endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, they still remain at risk – mainly due to poaching.

RFE is also home to the Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), the northern-most of the nine extant subspecies. At present, about 40-50 Amur leopards left in the wild. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to a number of many factors contributing to this status: geographical isolation of the population, logging, forest fires, prey depletion and poaching.

For 17 years the Phoenix Fund, Russian environmental NGO, has been conducting anti- poaching and habitat protection, environmental education and outreach, monitoring of industrial projects, paying compensations for livestock depredation in order to keep stable the Amur tiger and leopard populations.

Below, we are glad to present our final report describing the project activities between January 1 and December 30, 2014. The activities described below are the result of joint efforts of many organizations, both Russian and international, and invaluable contribution of our supporters.

About 500 Amur tigers and 40-50 Amur leopards live in the Russian Far East.

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

Anti-poAChinG AnD hABitAt proteCtion

One of the main threats to the survival of Amur tigers and leopards in Russia is poaching of these big cats and their prey species. That is why one of our top priorities is to improve environmental law enforcement efforts by supporting anti-poaching activities within and outside the protected areas in tiger/leopard habitat.

In 2014, we focused our anti-poaching efforts in six core tiger breeding areas:

1. 2. Land of the Leopard National Park 3. Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve 4. 5. Anyuisky National Park 6. Ussuriisky Nature Reserve

Phoenix has provided anti-poaching units with fuel and spare parts for their patrolling vehicles, incentive payments, as well as training.

Since 2010, Phoenix Fund, Zoological Society of London and Wildlife Conservation Society have been introducing a Law Enforcement Monitoring Program (MIST) in four protected areas (PAs) of , namely Land of the Leopard National Park, Zov Tigra, Lazovsky and Sikhote-Alin. Work with MIST enables managers of the protected areas to assess both efforts and results of anti-poaching patrols, assess and compare patrol efforts and results across teams, sites and time and allows set new patrol targets. The inspectors were taught to work with GPS units, collect and store anti-poaching data in a MIST database in order to let PA managers analyze the patrol efforts and results. After getting good results of work with MIST in 4 PAs, we decided to introduce MIST/SMART in the Ussuriisky Nature Reserve (NR). Director of the Ussuriisky NR expressed his willingness to use SMART, and in 2014, we began teaching the staff how SMART can help them improve patrolling techniques and effectiveness of anti-poaching teams. Implementation of MIST in 4PAs has resulted in a substantial improvement of the protection in 2011-2014, and we would like to continue these activities in 2015. Our program proved that MIST (or upgraded software SMART) patrol monitoring is an excellent tool for improving patrol management and reduce poaching threats to tigers and prey species. Concretely our program produced the following results:

• Patrol monitoring and adaptive patrol management successfully introduced to 5 federally protected areas.

• Patrol efforts substantially increased at all 5 protected areas.

• Anti-poaching results substantially increased at 2 protected areas (Land of Leopard NP and Lazovsky Reserve).

• At all program sites tiger numbers stabilized and at least 2 sites we see the first signs of increasing tiger and leopard numbers (the national parks Land of the Leopard and Zov Tigra).

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

unMAnneD AeriAl vehiCles

In 2013, Phoenix came up with an idea of using a new conservation approach - the use of remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) - in order to help protected area managers improve conservation efforts in Amur tiger habitat. These new tools for conservation will let monitor tigers and other wildlife as well as illegal activities within the PAs, namely prevent and detect forest fires, reveal illegal logging, and track and hunt down poachers. In May 2014, we succeeded in shooting first video using the quadcopter and the fixed wing UAV. Unfortunately, we identified weaknesses and disadvantages of our models shortly. We made some mistakes because there are no dedicated experts in the Russian Far East who could have consulted us on flying drones. Luckily, we managed to find some amateurs here who agreed to cooperate with us free of charge. We are glad to inform that we managed to find good partners – cadets of Maritime State University named after admiral G.I.Nevelskoi – who have experience flying fixed wing UAVs for their marine programs. In July 2014, Phoenix and the University signed an Agreement on Cooperation in order to study opportunities to use robotics, model airplanes and model submersible vehicles in nature conservation field. In 2014, we purchased a new quadcopter (DJI PHANTOM 2 VISION+ (PLUS)), and first we were satisfied with its capabilities. It is easy to operate and does not require a lot of technical knowledge. After a series of test flights, we demonstrated the quadcopter to managers of some PAs. However, during demonstrations we faced problems to get stable flight. In this connection, we would like to assemble a new multicopter and a fixed wing taking into consideration our previous mistakes. In 2015, we also plan to purchase two more quadcopters. Here are our results achieved from January through December 2014: - 53 test flights (45 – quadcopter and 8 –fixed wing UAV) conducted; - 14 minor crashes occurred; - 7 drones purchased; - repair parts (15 propellers, 5 motors, 1 relay), 3 GoPro cameras, and extra GPS units for UAVs purchased.

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

eColoGiCAl eDuCAtion AnD outreACh

Phoenix has been continuing its fight for people’s minds trying to conserve rare animals and their habitat by educating local population. We believe that most people get their first knowledge about ecology and develop a sense of respect and caring for the natural environment during their first few years of life, then at primary school they are taught to be responsible towards nature, and shape lifelong attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior toward natural environments. And, educators play a critical role in shaping such attitudes. For many years, the Phoenix Fund has been helping educators to improve their knowledge on local nature and promote nature conservation among children. Children, in their turn, share knowledge they got at kindergartens, schools and eco-centers with their family members. In view of the above, the environmental education and outreach program of the Phoenix Fund includes classes with children and youth as well as lectures with adults including educators.

All areas where Phoenix runs educational programs experienced a stable or increased number of nature-oriented and tiger-friendly events with perfect attendance. By educating local people through explanatory talks, ecological lectures, special events focused on tiger conservation (Tiger Day holiday, Environmental Journalism Awards, art contests, clean-up actions, planting etc.) we are increasing people’s awareness of nature conservation, specifically conservation of the tiger, its prey and habitat.

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

During the reported period, our ecological outreach program reached as many as 23,734 children and adults.

Administrative districts/cities Eco-events (lessons, lectures, Number of children/adults outdoor activities, etc.) Khasan district 62 1,536 Kirovsky district 1 220 Krasnoarmeisky district 328 6,272 212 4,611 69 2,791 Tenreisky district 506 6,346 Dalnerechensky district 1 22 Vladivostok 2 90 Kabarovsky krai 1 15 Amurskaya Oblast 2 40 Jewish Autonomous Region 1 35 TOTAL 1,185 23,734

In 2014, it was nine years in a row when Phoenix held annual art contest for children with the purpose of promoting careful and respectful attitude towards the Amur tiger and Amur leopard. We believe that creating art is a healthy way for children to use their imaginations and to express themselves. Children have a natural affinity for animals and art – both of which can help them develop fundamental skills, values and attitudes. Art helps to give children a voice, encourages open-minded thinking and builds a sense of connection with the natural world. This year, as many as 2,035 children between 5 and 18 years of age sent in paintings – 1,312 tiger drawings and 723 leopard drawings. Every contestant received a calendar. The rest copies were used for awarding young active participants of various nature-oriented contests.

Since 2006, the Phoenix Fund in cooperation with the Amur Branch of WWF-Russia and WCS- Russia, with generous support from ALTA partners, and other sponsors has been honouring journalists who possess the courage to make nature conservation issues public and who devoted much of their professional lives to trumpeting the environmental threats. Traditionally on June 5, World Environmental Day, the results of the 8th Far Eastern Environmental Journalism Awards “Taiga Alive – 2014” were announced. As many as 82 journalists and freelance writers from mass media of Primorsky, Khabarovsky, Zabaikalsky and Kamchatsky krais, Amurskaya and Jewish Autonomous provinces, and from regional representatives of federal mass media participated in the contest this year. The jury studied 154 newspaper articles, 100 releases of news agencies, 65 TV reportings, documentaries, and radio transmissions. The authors worked on the following six categories: “Amur Tiger Home", "Korean Pine Is a Tree of Life", "Green Belt of the Amur River", "Hunting Leases Keep Ward on Nature", “Protected Areas” and “Environment and Energy Industry". The Grand Prix, that includes a nature-oriented trip abroad, the jury unanimously agreed to award Yelena Romanova, news editor of CHITA.RU Information Agency for a cycle of reports about protected areas of Zabaikalye, and the destiny of men living in remote areas of the region. Also, 15 winners and 32 laureates of the contest were awarded cut-glass plates with ginseng and diplomas at the solemn ceremony on July 31, 2014. Then, from July 31 to August 4, they took part in an annual School of Environmental Journalism.

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

tiGer DAY - 2014

The Tiger Day Festival is an annual autumn event held by the Phoenix Fund in cooperation with its partners such as International Fund for Animal Welfare, WCS, Amur branch of WWF-Russia, Business Solution and others, and under the auspices of Vladivostok city administration. This year marked the 15th anniversary of Tiger Day. Thanks to united efforts by administrations of Primorsky krai and Vladivostok city, the Amur Tiger Centre autonomous nonprofit organization, and ecological nongovernmental organizations, in 2014 the holiday lasted two days for the first time in its history and attracted more people than in previous years to tiger conservation issues.

During two days – September 27 and September 28 – citizens and guests of Vladivostok took part in various joyful events. The opening ceremony of the Tiger Day began on September 27 at the embankment of the Far Eastern Federal University on Russian Island. A new master’s program “Nature Conservation” was presented there. Also, a short documentary about student team “Amur tiger” was featured there. Then, a bronze sculpture of the Amur tiger was unveiled during a ceremony near Primorsky Opera and Ballet Theater. In one of the Theater’s hall, the residents of Primorye who made a significant contribution to conservation of rare big cats were awarded. The second day of the festival, September 28, began with a traditional spectacular carnival procession down Okeansky Avenue – from Pokrovsky Park to the central city square. All in all, the festival attracted more than 10 thousand people. The parade itself comprised 88 units of schoolchildren, university students and representatives of various clubs and unions.

Also, in September-October, the Tiger Day holiday was celebrated in cities of Primorsky (Lazo, Kirovka, , , Arsenev, , Ussuriisk and Novopokrovka towns) and Khabarovsky krais.

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

sAlMon ConservAtion

In 2013, besides educating the population on Amur tigers and leopards, we decided to pay special attention to salmon conservation problem in Primorye. Our new area of focus is salmon conservation because people are ignorant on the current state of the fish at all. During the reported year, Phoenix gathered materials on the state of salmon population in Primorye. We established close partnership with the specialists of the Primorsky Aquarium in order to get updated information on salmon for educational products.

As a result, in 2014 four sets of bookmarks on salmon were developed and published for schoolchildren. In March, Phoenix held a workshop on salmon conservation issues in Primorsky krai for 50 schoolteachers and specialists of protected areas. During the workshop, leading specialists in teaching Biology at school developed a concept of a reference book on salmon conservation. Then, Phoenix compiled all available information that could be appropriate for the book; and in December, an Educator’s Tool Kit on Salmon with a DVD came out. The textbook contains lesson plans, description of games and other events devoted to salmon conservation. The DVD offers additional information and resources such as texts, articles, video, photographs, slide presentations, maps and other. The Kit will be distributed among educators teaching Biology and Ecology, leaders of ecological clubs and eco-centers concerned about salmon conservation issues.

In 2015, Phoenix and Primorsky Institute for Further Training of Educators will hold a series of seminars for schoolteachers in order to explain how they can use the textbook and the DVD during a school year.

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

CoMpensAtion

Since 1999, Phoenix has been paying compensations to farmers suffering from livestock depredation in order to discourage farmers and villagers from killing predators.

For more than two years, the female Amur leopard Sophie lives in close proximity to one of the deer farms - the Olenevod deer farm - located in the Khasan district of Primorye. Such neighborhood is unfavorable to the owner because the animal uses his territory as a hunting site. Therefore, the farmer suffers constant damage from leopard’s presence. To solve the conflict between the man and the animal the Phoenix Fund together with the Institute of Environmental Problems and Evolution of A.N. Severtsov of the Russian Academy of Sciences developed a special program that helps to maintain peaceful co-existence between the farmer and rare predators. The main difference of this program from paying compensation to owners of cattle for the damage caused by predators is that every month the farmer receives a fixed sum of money for the fact of leopard’s presence in close proximity to his territory. We made few systematic efforts to evaluate the efficacy of compensation program. During the project implementation, we began a field research with using camera traps to survey the leopards at the project site. Camera trapping allowed us identify individual leopards by their unique spot patterns, and therefore we were able to monitor individual animals over time. As we expected, the compensation program ensured the survival of the female leopard Sophie and her cubs near the farm. The photographs from the camera-traps allowed identifying five leopards, including Sophie, her two cubs and two adult male leopards one of which is supposedly a father of the cubs.

In summer and early autumn, for some reasons leopards were not caught on camera traps, which gave us anxiety based on a fear of what could happen to the animals. Luckily, the photographs received from camera traps in the middle of November proved that mother and her cubs are doing well.

In 2015, Phoenix will continue to monitor leopards’ presence at the farm through the photographs, and the presence of the leopard family on the project area will give occasion to fixed monthly compensation payment to the farmer.

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

resCue AnD rehABilitAtion oF

tiGers

The Phoenix Fund has been providing financial support for the Rehabilitation Center for Tigers and Other Rare Animals in Alekseevka, Primorsky Krai, since its establishment. Phoenix has been assisting federal-level agency Inspection Tiger that is responsible for overseeing the smooth running of the Center with rehabilitation of orphaned, sick or injured tiger cubs. A young tigress named Zolushka (“Cinderella”) became the first patient of the Center in 2012, and it was successfully released back into the wild in , in spring 2013. In 2014, Phoenix continued assisting specialists of Inspection Tiger and A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution to prepare new striped residents for return into the wild. This year, there was the largest release of five rehabilitated Amur tigers ever, that became possible thanks to the joint efforts of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Inspection Tiger, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Phoenix Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

In May 2014, after a long rehabilitation period three Amur tigers were released into the wild in Zhelundindsky Wildlife Refuge, which is the northwestern part of the Amur tiger range, in Amurskaya Oblast. Two tiger brothers, Kuzya and Borya, were found in November 2012 when they were 4-month-old cubs. As they were extremely emaciated, frostbitten and unable to survive on their own in the wild, it was decided to take them to the Rehabilitation Center. Ilona, the third rehabilitated tiger, was found near Svetlogorye in Primorsky Krai on 25th February 2013 when she was 6 or 7 months old cub. Two weeks before the release, Phoenix’ staff member together with a specialist of

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution visited Amurskaya Oblast in order to ensure peaceful coexistence among local communities and their new striped neighbors. A series of lectures on relationship between human and tiger was delivered for hunters and local people. Analogous series of lectures was given in Jewish Autonomous Region, potential release site for other two tigers, the female Svetlaya and the male Ustin, that were successfully released later in June.

In early October, the tiger Kuzya approached the Amur River, walked along it for several days and then swam towards China. The tiger’s movement was monitored by experts of the Severtsov Institute via its GPS collar. On December 9, the tiger crossed the Chinese-Russian border over the ice-covered Amur River and returned to Russia’s Jewish

Autonomous Region. On 11th November 2014, the Amur tiger Ustin also swam across the Amur River, ventured into several in China where he hunted various animals. He then crossed back into Russia and settled in the Bolshekhekhtsirsky Nature Reserve near Khabarovsk, where he was reported to have attacked dogs. In late December, scientists decided to catch the tiger after it was injured while crossing the border, and place it in the Rehabilitation Center. Scientists believe that the tiger Ustin will be released back into the wild in the Amurskaya Oblast in a few months.

The tigress Ilona settled in the mountain part of the Khingansky Nature Reserve in the Amurskaya Oblast, 90 kilometers from the Zhelundinsky wildlife refuge, while the tiger Borya hunts some three kilometers from the Andreyevsky wildlife refuge. Now, two tigers in the rehabilitation center await their release to the wild. The one is the tiger Ustin, and the second one is a male tiger called Tikhon who arrived at the Center on 16th November 2014. Emaciated tiger was captured at Vyazemsky district of Khabarovsky krai by the joint team of Inspection Tiger, Khabarovsky Hunting Management Department and Wildlife Conservation Society. The tiger named Tikhon was saved from a hungry death and currently it requires special care, intensive feeding and permanent veterinary support. The rehabilitation of the tiger will take several months, and after it is planned to release the animal back to its natural environment.

[PHOENIX FUND] Annual Report 2014

ACKnoWleDGeMents

We would like to express our gratitude to all our donors for continuous support of our projects aimed at Amur tiger/leopard conservation in the Russian Far East. With their support we managed to increase capacity of the anti-poaching teams to reduce poaching activities, enhance wildlife and habitat protection in Primorye, and attract young people as well as adults to Amur tiger conservation problems, increase their awareness of main threats to tiger's survival and measures to conserve this big cat and its habitat, and involve them in nature conservation activities.

Our profound thanks go to all our supporters, including:

Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance Milwaukee County Zoo

Alertis: fund for bear and nature National Fish and Wildlife Foundation conservation Pacific Environment Columbus Zoo Conservation Fund Rufford Foundation David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation Tiger Island/ Dreamworld Conservation Global Giving Foundation Fund

Green Grants Fund US Embassy

International Fund for Animal Welfare Whitley Fund for Nature

Kolmarden Fund Raising Foundation Wildlife Alliance

Korean Tigers and Leopards Wildlife Conservation Society Conservation Fund Zoological Society of London

We want to thank equally many other donors who have contributed to our work through individual gifts and online donations.

Credits:

Inspection Tiger, A.N Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution.