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Home , Lazovsky Nature Reserve, Primorsky Krai, Zov Tigra National Park

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund

Сonservation Projects in the

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

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund BACKGROUND

The southern Russian Far East (RFE) is home to some of the tigers and rarest animals and plants on Earth. As many as 100 terrestrial leopards endangered species live here, meaning that 30% of all endangered    species in Russia are concentrated in only 1% of the country’s vast The Amur tiger (Panthera territory. Up to 48 of these species (15% of all endangered species tigris altaica), also known as in Russia) occur nowhere else. This region is home to the Amur , is the world’s tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as Siberian tiger, and to northernmost subspecies of the (Panthera pardus orientalis), the northern-most tiger. Amur tigers are of the nine extant subspecies. Amur leopards and tigers are at the classified as Endangered on top of the food chain. Conservation of these two umbrella species the IUCN Red List. They are ultimately requires conservation of the forest ecosystem as a also protected under the whole. Population size of these animals is an important metric by Convention on International which conservation action can be measured. Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Russia is a success story in the history of wild tiger (CITES). More than 90% of conservation. In 1947, with few Amur tigers left, Russia became the Amur tiger population occurs in the Sikhote Alin the first country to ban the hunting of tigers. It succeeded in mountain region, and there halting the long-lasting decline in numbers of tigers and stabilizing is little genetic exchange the population. While numbers plummeted almost everywhere else across the development across Asia, the Russian population showed a defiantly opposite corridor which separates this trend. A survey in 2005 showed that the population recovered to sub-population from the 430-500 individuals, up from a mere 20-30 individuals in the 1940s. much smaller subpopulation In 2008, Amur tiger numbers experienced a decline again. found in southwest According to officials, Amur tiger population in the Far Eastern Primorye. Federal District is now estimated to be at least 523. RFE is also home to the Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), the northern- “The population of Amur tigers in the Russian Far most of the nine extant East has increased by 10 percent over the past subspecies. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the decade”, Russian Minister of Natural Resources and IUCN Red List and is included Environment Sergei Donskoi announced the in CITES Appendix I. In April intermediate results of the population count of 2014, the Minister of Natural rare wild cats. Resources and Environment of Russia approved Amur leopard reintroduction In February 2015, the simultaneous count of Amur tigers and programme that presupposes Amur leopards was organised by the Russian Ministry of Natural reintroduction of Amur Resources and Environment and affiliated agencies. According to leopards into their former preliminary results of the count, the global population of Amur range in the Southern Sikhote-Alin Mountains.

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund leopards is estimated at 60-70 species, with 57 recorded by camera traps in Land of the Leopard National Park alone. Only two years ago, environmentalists informed that the population of the Amur leopard had grown by half since 2007, from 27-34 up to 50 individuals. Such upward tendency in Amur leopard population is very encouraging. Also, according to the count-2015, about 523-540 Amur tigers roam today in RFE, including 417-425 animals in ,100-109 in Khabarovsky krai, four in and two in Amurskaya Oblast. The final results of the winter count will be released in October 2015. Despite sustained conservation efforts over recent years and encouraging preliminary results of the recent count, these big cats still remain at risk due to poaching, logging, forest fires, and prey depletion.

For 17 years, the Phoenix Fund, Russian environmental NGO, has been conducting anti-poaching and habitat protection, environmental education and outreach in order to conserve these two big cats in the wild. The long-term goal of the projects described below is to stabilize Amur tiger and leopard populations in Primorye and reduce poaching of and trade in these big cats. The short-term goals of the projects are as follows:

1) to reduce poaching of Amur tigers, Amur leopards, and their prey species and improve protection of their habitat; 2) to improve law enforcement efforts within the protected areas; 3) and to raise people’s awareness about the state of Amur tiger and leopard populations and involve the public in nature conservation actions.

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund UAV PROJECT

The Phoenix Fund became a pioneer in the use of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) for conservation purposes in the south of the Russian Far East. Since 2013, with the support of our partners - ALTA, IFAW, Whitley Fund for Nature, Alertis – Phoenix has been organizing training and purchasing drones for the protected areas. We are delighted that our initiative on the use of small UAVs was supported by the WWF and the ANO “Tiger” in 2015, and they held training for one inspector in the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve.

On January 13, 2015, Phoenix provided a quadcopter to monitor immobilization of the tigers Tikhon at the Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Tigers and Other Rare Animals in Alekseevka, Primorsky Krai. Thanks to the device, specialists managed to spot the animal quickly in the enclosure. The matter is that tigers are very elusive and cautious animals. Despite the fact that the Centre’s enclosure is fitted with cameras along its perimeter, it is challenging to see the tiger in it.

“The demand for unmanned aerial vehicles for observation of animals arose long time ago. Thanks to the presentation that Phoenix held at the rehabilitation centre, we saw how the quadcopter can be effectively used for observation of tigers in the enclosure, watching their natural behaviour, practicing their hunting skills. In the centre the use of these aircrafts can be one of the elements to ensure mobility and safety of our employees. Hopefully, we will continue our very fruitful longstanding cooperation with Phoenix Fund and bring to life the advanced technologies that will do the job more efficiently and safely both for tigers and people”, said Vitaliy Timchenko, Director of Inspection Tiger.

During the reported period, rangers of three protected areas, namely Land of the Leopard National Park (LLNP), Ussuriisky Nature Reserve (UNR) and Anyuisky National Park passed a series of lessons conducted by Phoenix learning how to operate UAVs. The first training was carried out in Vladivostok where they received theoretical knowledge, and later they were able to

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund demonstrate new knowledge in practice under the supervision of the Phoenix Fund’s staff. After giving training sessions, Phoenix donated a quadcopter to each of these three protected areas.

“Performance characteristics of the copter will allow monitoring fires, controlling poaching, tracking wildlife conflict, and conducting animals’ counts. I think this equipment would be very effective in our work”, says Eugene Stoma, Deputy Director of the Land of the Leopard National Park.

“The crew from the Land of the Leopard is promising. The guys are young and technically competent”, says Sergei Bereznuk, Director of the Phoenix Fund. “They absorbed all the necessary information rapidly and have proven that they can put it into practice. During the training session using the UAV inspectors managed to detect a fire which at that time was being extinguished by their colleagues.”

On May 13, the rangers of the Ussuriisky Nature Reserve met with the staff of the Phoenix Fund in order to get answers on some questions that arose during a trial period. The questions was mostly about the flying range and GPS mode. Then, the rangers showed how they learned to fly a quadcopter, get it off the ground, hover and land, and take photos and video. In the field, they are going to use the quadcopter to detect trespassers who enter illegally the protected area in search for ginseng and other wild plants. It is a challenge to detect such violators in the daytime, as they are very cautious. In the evening, such uninvited visitors, as a rule, make a small fire in the wood. On the ground, it is almost impossible to see smoke in the twilight, but with the use of a drone the rangers will be able to see not only the smoke but also identify where an illegal camp was set up.

During the reported period: six training sessions were held; seven rangers from four PAs were trained; and three quadcopters were purchased.

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund TIGER DAY 2015

One of the powerful tools we use in educating local    communities is Tiger Day Festival that stimulates public concern In September 2000, about the plight of the tiger in the wild and help raise funds for tiger Phoenix organized the conservation. Since 2000, the Tiger Day has developed into a first Tiger Day in wonderful autumn festival that is celebrated across the country, Vladivostok, and within a from to Vladivostok. The festival attracts people’s attention year, it developed into a to the most burning issues of tiger conservation, as well as gives wonderful festival that is them an opportunity to participate in their resolution. celebrated across the country. The festival On September 27, 2015, about 10 thousand guests and citizens begins with a carnival of Vladivostok took part in traditional carnival procession devoted to procession, and is the 16th anniversary of Tiger Day. At noon, costumed parade units followed by theatrical representing local schools, kindergartens, businesses, governmental performances, games and agencies, non-governmental organisations, children’s activity educational contests. centres, etc. began moving down Okeansky prospect to the central Tiger Day reminds people city square. Specialized motor vehicles (quad bikes and off-road about the uniqueness and jeeps) designated for the use in taiga by anti-poaching teams headed beauty of the territory the procession. After the parade ended, the festivities continued on they live in. The Amur the central city square. Vladivostok mayor Igor Pushkaryov tiger is a symbol of congratulated the residents and visitors on the 16th anniversary of Vladivostok and Primorsky Tiger Day. krai; it is the most Igor Pushkaryov awarded three best parade units for brilliance, respected animal in the originality and full compliance with topic. This year the winners of Russian Far East. It is the Best Parade’s Unit Contest are: 1st place – school # 82, 2nd place depicted on the flag and – school #60, 3rd place – gymnasium #2. Then, the Best Cheerleaders coat of arms of the Contest began. Primorsky Territory, as well as on many heraldic symbols of cities and districts of the region. The Amur tiger is the object of worship of many peoples of the Russian Far East. The main goal of the festival is to help save the Amur tiger in the wild for future generations - not just on logos and coats of arms - and to draw international attention to the plight of this endangered species.

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund

   International Tiger Day that is held annually on July 29 was founded at the Tiger Summit in 2010 in order to give worldwide attention to the reservation of tigers.

Since 2000, Tiger Day has been attracting more and more people. In 2014, on the eve of Tiger Day, everyone could see a video with congratulations from space from a new Soyuz crew. The international crew took a The square was the main ground for festive events. Everyone plushy toy tiger cub Mur, a had a chance to visit pavilions of non-governmental ecological new character of a organizations and find out details of their activities, projects and popular Russian children’s interesting facts about the Amur tiger. At the Phoenix’ pavilion, TV programme “Good Natalia Drobysheva, a highly skilled teacher, gave the children a Night, Little Ones!” and quiz with questions about Amur tigers and other tiger subspecies. its toy pal - the Amur Every child who gave a correct answer received a small gift. Also, leopard - to the with great pleasure the children participated in the following International Space contests organized by Phoenix: “The strongest tiger”, “The Station (ISS) as part of an cunning tiger” and “The hungriest tiger” with tug-of-war. action to call public This year, the Phoenix Fund and International Fund for attention to rare species. Animal Welfare (IFAW) organized a TigerQuest on September 26, The action was organized the first day of celebration. TigerQuest is an adventure game with by the Russian Space three “tiger” routes in Vladivostok city. Participants had to follow Agency (Roskosmos) and one of the routes and find as many as possible tigers (monuments, posters, sybmols, etc). In all, about 1,000 people took part in two non-profit TigerQuest. Those who found all tigers could receive prizes on organizations - the Amur September 27 during Tiger Day celebration. Also, during the Tiger and the Far Eastern festival Phoenix traditionally conducted an opinion poll the results Leopard centres. Russian of which proved that our educational activities increase the astronaut Yelena Serova environmental awareness of local community and stimulate public and her crew mates concern about the plight of the tiger population. congratulated all humans In September-October 2015, the Tiger Day Festival was also with Tiger Day from space. celebrated in cities of Primorsky (Lazo, Kirovka, Partizans, , Arsenev, , Ussuriisk and Novopokrovka towns) and Khabarovsky krais.

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund ART CONTEST

For ten years, the Phoenix Fund has been organizing annual art contests for children with the purpose of promoting careful and respectful attitude towards the Amur tiger and Amur leopard at young age. The topic always concerns these big cats. 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. Since 2006 every year the team of the Phoenix Fund has the difficult – but heart-warming - task of choosing winners from the amazing original artwork submissions that come pouring in from schoolchildren across the Russian Far East. This year was no different: as many as 2,625 children between 5 and 18 years of age sent in paintings – 1,741 tiger drawings and 884 leopard drawings. (Compare: in 2014, Phoenix received 1,312 Amur tiger drawings and 723 Amur leopard drawings; in 2013, we got 1,629 tiger drawings and 617 leopard drawings).

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund

This year the contest expanded its geographical borders and welcomed participants not only from Primorsky and Khabarovsky krais, but also from Amurskaya and Autonomous Jewish oblasts, and the Republic of Korea. Three years ago, Phoenix and the Tiger and Leopard Conservation Fund in Korea (KTLCF) decided to make the drawing contest international by organizing it in both Russia and Korea and providing an opportunity for Korean and Russian children to help each other on protection of Amur tiger and leopard populations in Russia and China.

For a second consecutive year, Land of the Leopard National Park has been helping the Phoenix Fund in holding the contest devoted to the Amur leopard. «We would be honoured to be co-organizers of the art contest”, said Yelena Salmanova, Deputy Director of Land of the Leopard National Park. “We are glad that besides the national park established especially for conservation and reintroduction of Amur leopard population there are ecological organisations and funds implementing projects aimed at conservation of this rare big cat. This contest is a great contribution to efforts to attract the public towards conservation issues of this one of the rarest feline in the world”.

In March, Phoenix's staff selected the best paintings; and in April, 3,000 copies were published. Every contestant will receive a calendar. The rest copies will be used for awarding young active participants of various nature- oriented contests.

«Over the past 10 years we received more than 10 thousand entries which indicate a growing interest towards big cats conservation issue”, says Alexander Vrisch, coordinator of educational programs of the Phoenix Fund. “ Such contests are needed not only for children, but also for adults, and ultimately for tigers and leopards. For example, if a child is drawing wild big cats, and a calendar with tiger/leopard paintings is hanging on the wall at his home, and his father is a poacher, it to a discord that can make a difference”.

Increased or stable number of entries from year to year indicates a huge increase in awareness and interest in big cats conservation issues among schoolchildren. We hope that it also indicates positive results of our educational programmes.

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund 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 2015, we focused our anti-poaching efforts in FIVE core tiger breeding areas: 1. 2. Land of the Leopard National Park 3. Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve 4. 5. 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 Primorsky Krai, 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. 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 increased at all 5 protected areas. • Anti-poaching results substantially increased. • 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).

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund EDUCATION We recognize that it is the education of the community ECOLOGICAL that will ensure the survival of the Amur tiger and leopard in the long term. Many damaging human activities often result from ecological ignorance. The majority of people EDUCATION are unaware of the threats to tiger/leopard survival and other ecological problems of the region. The Phoenix Fund carries out a broad range of ecological education and AND outreach programmes at schools, kindergartens, universities and eco-centres in Primorye. Our goals are to OUTREACH foster a positive attitude towards endangered wildlife and nature conservation among the region’s youth and increase their environmental awareness and involvement in conservation activities.

Our main target groups are local villagers, and especially schoolchildren, because it is easier to influence children’s mentality than that of adults. We also aim to influence adults through the environmental education of their children. Since 1998, Phoenix has been supporting a number of eco-centres in the region and initiated their creation in some cities. Experienced educators conduct ecological classes, lectures, slide presentations and other activities for children and adults. Every year over 25,000 children attend the eco-classes organized by the Phoenix Fund throughout Primorye. In some schools senior students collaborate with teachers, prepare and conduct with great pleasure eco-lessons for junior schoolchildren.

To disseminate ecological ideas to the wide public – especially to young people – Phoenix organizes ecological festivals. It is a particularly powerful tool in transmitting messages for the values of environment and thoughts about the environmental problems, in forming a different, more ecological, type of consciousness and inspiring to live in harmony with the environment through a festive atmosphere. Annual Tiger Day Festival in Vladivostok and other regional centres has become a popular event devoted to the Amur tiger and other natural treasures of the Russian Far East.

During the reported period, the Phoenix Fund continued supporting the educators working in Lazovsky, Khasansky, Terneisky, Pozharsky, Kirovsky districts of Primorye and in Vladivostok city. In 2015, the teachers gave 925 lessons and other nature-oriented events for 31,583 children.

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund RESCUE AND REHABILITATION OF TIGERS

We would like to share good news about the tigers that were successfully rehabilitated at the Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Tigers and Other Rare Animals and returned back into the wild.

1) The first news is about the tigress Zolushka or Cinderella that was found in February 2012 in Southwest Primorye, Russian Far East. The animal was taken to the Rehabilitation Centre where it received appropriate medical treatment, underwent rehabilitation, was taught to hunt and avoid danger. In early 2013, it was released back into the wild in (Jewish Autonomous Province) where a male tiger named Zavetny (Cherished) roamed. The tigress not only adapted very well in the protected area, but also gave birth to her first litter in late December 2015.

2) Unique photos of tigers released in 2014 were received from Zhuravliny Wildlife Refuge, Jewish Autonomous Province. The tigers Boris and Svetlaya have been seeing each other frequently! They relax and move around their territorial range together. It indicates that the tigers contact with each other not only for the purposes of mating; they are keeping their close relationship during the year. This fact shows that the social structure of the tiger is more complicated than it was considered earlier.

Evidence suggests that all five tigers still remaining in the Pri-Amur Region will likely survive the winter of 2016. Tiger monitoring will be continued in 2016 to document tiger activities, movement patterns, and most importantly, to document reproductive activities in the near future. Successful reproduction would be the ultimate sign that recovery of tigers in the Pri-Amur is underway. Phoenix has provided support for monitoring and field trips and support of cubs while in captivity.

2015 Annual Report – Phoenix Fund ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The activities described in the report are the result of joint efforts of many organizations, such as the Wildlife Conservation Society, Tiger and Leopard Conservation Fund in Korea, Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve and Land of the Leopard National Park, Zov Tigra National Park, Lazovsky Nature Reserve, Ussuriisky Nature Reserve, Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve, Bolshekhekhtsirski Nature Reserve and Anyuisky National Park (Protected Priamurye) and many others. 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 Korean Tigers and Leopards Conservation Fund

Alertis: fund for bear and nature conservation Rufford Foundation

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation Tiger Island/ Dreamworld Conservation Fund

Global Giving Foundation Whitley Fund for Nature

International Fund for Animal Welfare Wildlife Conservation Society

Kolmarden Fund Raising Foundation Zoological Society of London

We want to thank equally many other donors who have contributed to our work through individual gifts and online donations. Photo credits: Phoenix Fund, N. N. Dubinin Boarding School for Gifted Children, Alina Ostapenko and Vasilina Nikitenko