The Khabarovsk Territory government’s recent inter-agency meeting, held on 28 July, focused on the conservation of Amur tigers in Russia’s Far East. Those present at the event included representatives of hunting farms, forest users and officials from the Khabarovsk and Primorye territories, the Amur Region and also the Jewish Autonomous Region.

Experts discussed how the population of the Amur tiger was being counted, measures that should be taken to increase food for them, prospects of restoring the rare animal’s population within the historical habitat as well as its conservation. The participants noted that the success of the conservation strategy of Russia’s Amur tiger is indicated by the annual head count. The monitoring methods used include capturing animals’ images with trail cameras and following the predator outside its natural geographic range in order to explore opportunities of expanding the borders and possible relocation of conflict-prone animals.

Alexander Yermolin, Khabarovsk Territory’s Deputy Chairman of the Government and Minister of Natural Resources, reported that there has been significant population development of the Amur tigers. According to the 2015 count, between 100 and 109 tigers inhabit the area, including more than 36 females and 28 cubs while ten years ago the population was only around 71 animals. The majority of the tigers are currently based in the Nanaisky and Lazo districts.