On 27 April, St Petersburg hosted the 10^th anniversary meeting of the Russian Geographical Society (RGO) Board of Trustees. The meeting was attended by President Vladimir Putin, who chairs the Board, as well as Defence Minister and RGO President Sergei Shoigu. RGO is the co-founder of the Amur Tiger Centre. Konstantin Chuichenko, presidential aide and chair of the Amur Tiger Centre Supervisory Council, delivered a report.

In his report, Chuichenko spoke about the centre’s results in 2017, focusing on its anti-poaching efforts. “We can safely say today that we have stopped the locals from poaching, but unfortunately, poaching has become an organised crime,” Chuichenko said, adding that the Amur Tiger Centre plans to create a video surveillance system to monitor entrances to and exits from the taiga so that staff at the 10 ranger stations built this year in the Amur tiger habitat can respond promptly.

He also said that one of the centre’s key priorities is the rehabilitation and reintroduction of the Amur tiger. Due to the centre’s efforts, the number of rare cats in the Jewish Autonomous Region has grown from one animal to 13.

Speaking of the centre’s media projects, Chuichenko mentioned the annual Amur Tiger Day. “I must say this project is widely supported by the residents of the Primorye and Khabarovsk territories. Tens of thousands of people take part in the annual festival dedicated to Amur tiger preservation. In 2017, 18,000 people joined in the parade to support Amur tigers,” Chuichenko said.

In conclusion, he thanked members of the RGO Board of Trustees. “I would like to thank the sponsors who are present here today, because without their support it would have been impossible to realise our projects. Thank you very much.”