LONG-TERM AMUR TIGER RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION FINAL REPORT TO THE NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION SAVE THE TIGER FUND FROM THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY (WCS) Grant Number: 2005-0013-025 Project Coordinators: Dale Miquelle, PhD John Goodrich, PhD Reporting Period: 1 August 2005 – 31 July 2006 Contacts: Colin Poole Linde E. T. Ostro, PhD Director Director Asia Program Foundation Relations Wildlife Conservation Society Wildlife Conservation Society 2300 Southern Boulevard 2300 Southern Boulevard Bronx, NY 10460 Bronx, NY 10460 T: 718.741.5885 T: 718.741.1653 F: 718.364.4275 F: 718.364.7963 E:
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[email protected] 1 PROJECT SUMMARY With less than 400 individuals left in the wild, the Amur (Siberian) tiger is critically endangered. Threats to their survival include poaching of both tigers and their prey, and destruction and fragmentation of remaining habitat. Key to dealing with these threats is development of comprehensive conservation plans that provide for the needs of both tigers and local people. This requires a sound knowledge of tiger ecology based on detailed, long-term scientific data. The Siberian Tiger Project has nearly completed its thirteenth year of data collection on radio-collared tigers on and near Russia’s Sikhote- Alin Biosphere Zapovednik (SABZ). The primary goal of our field research is to develop the best scientific data set possible on Amur tiger ecology in pristine areas, i.e. the SABZ, and in surrounding disturbed areas. During the report period, we focused our research on two issues vital to comprehensive conservation planning: cub mortality and dispersal. Additionally, since 2000, we have been working with Inspection Tiger (a department of the Russian Ministry for Natural Resources) with the goal of alleviating tiger-human conflicts in ways that reduce tiger-mortality while protecting the welfare of local citizens.