Tiger comeback highlights successes, challenges in China's wildlife conservation

HARBIN, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Liu Guifu, 74, never imagined that one day he would come face to face with a Siberian tiger in his own yard.

Liu is a villager from Changtai Village in Boli County, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. A surveillance video captured his encounter with the tiger on Monday morning, when the tiger dashed past Liu's house. After stepping out of his yard for a quick look, Liu retreated to the yard and pulled the gate shut. The tiger, however, turned back and lunged at him, denting the iron gate before it left.

"I thought that by closing the gate, the tiger would be kept out," Liu told Xinhua, recalling the incident. "When the tiger charged at me, I was so scared!"

The video has gone viral online, with netizens expressing concern about such incidents.

Another villager was injured by the same tiger that morning as he was walking back home after giving some hay to the cattle. The tiger pounced on him, bit his left hand, and clawed his head and body. He is now being treated at a medical facility, and his condition is stable.

This marks the first recorded sighting of a Siberian tiger in Boli County's documented history. According to the Heilongjiang Forestry and Grassland Administration, the county is outside the key distribution ranges of Siberian tigers.

Over 500 personnel from relevant county government departments have been mobilized for deployment and control, working around the clock to carry out investigations and try to track the animal.

The management bureau of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park (NCTLNP), about 200 km away from the village, announced Tuesday that it has activated the emergency response plan and insurance claims procedure.

The national park has coordinated with the insurance company to send a working group to the village to assist the local forestry and grassland department in conducting investigations. If the tiger is confirmed to be a wild Siberian tiger, the insurance claims process will be immediately initiated.

CONSERVATION EFFORTS PAYING OFF

Thanks to China's continuous efforts, the population of the Siberian tiger, one of the world's most endangered species, has grown significantly in recent years, while their range of activity has expanded.

In 1998, only 12 to 16 wild Siberian tigers were believed to be living in China. The NCTLNP, established in 2021 and spanning Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, now provides a sanctuary for around 70 wild Siberian tigers.

"With an improved ecological environment, the number of wild tigers is increasing, which shows that we have achieved good results in protecting wild animals," said Hu Huijian, a council member of the China Zoology Society.

In recent years, with the implementation of projects such as natural forest protection, wild animal and plant protection, and the construction of a national park-based nature reserve system, the quality of wildlife habitats has continued to improve, with continued growth in the populations and range of activities of wild animals.

China has been prioritizing eco-environmental progress and pursuing green development for biodiversity conservation. In 2021, China established its first batch of national parks, protecting 90 percent of terrestrial ecosystem types and 74 percent of key terrestrial wild animal and plant species. The land area of the country's nature reserves accounts for nearly 18 percent of its total land area.

Conservation efforts have significantly boosted the number of wild animals. A white paper titled "Biodiversity Conservation in China," released in 2021, shows that the population of giant pandas in the wild grew from 1,114 to 1,864 over the previous four decades. The crested ibis population increased from only 7 to over 5,000, with wild species and artificial breeds counted. The Asian elephant population in the wild grew from 180 in the 1980s to about 300.

RESOLVING HUMAN-ANIMAL CONFLICTS

Such scenes as wild animals damaging crops and injuring livestock -- and even people -- are no longer rare. The roaming tiger represents an extreme example of human-animal conflict.

Besides tigers, wild boars have also disrupted agricultural production, traffic and daily life, appearing on farmland in rural areas and in residents' homes in urban areas.

Statistics show that the population of wild boars has grown quickly to 2 million due to protection measures, and the animal has been sighted in 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country.

Cases of damage involving the animal have been recorded in 26 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. In Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, more than 2,000 wild boar cases were reported over the past three years.

In 2023, wild boars were removed from China's list of terrestrial wild animals of important ecological, scientific and social value, as they no longer face threats to their survival as a species.

"How to alleviate human-animal conflicts, ensure the safety of local residents and protect their property, while at the same time protecting the authenticity and integrity of the ecosystem, to achieve harmony between human and nature, is worthy of in-depth exploration and research," said Guan Yun, deputy director of the NCTLNP management bureau.

NATURE AND HUMANITY IN HARMONY

China has been making efforts to reach harmony between humanity and nature.

Experts suggest increasing investment in scientific research to enhance ecological corridors for the reproduction and spread of large wild animals, and to strengthen habitat protection for wild animals, especially endangered ones.

"Connecting the fragmented habitats is the fundamental way to solve the problem. The construction of ecological corridors for Siberian tigers and Amur leopards along the China-Russia border should be accelerated, and a cross-border nature reserve network should be built," said Jin Yongchao, a member of the wild tiger conservation expert team of the World Wildlife Fund.

Jin said that strengthened patrols by local teams and technical devices such as infrared cameras should be combined to dynamically track and monitor the activity range of wild Siberian tigers to avoid the overlapping activity areas of the tigers and humans.

The NCTLNP, for example, has set up over 20,000 smart infrared cameras. These cameras connect to the internet to transmit high-definition images and videos in real-time. They also use artificial intelligence technology for species recognition, monitoring the activities of Siberian tigers and other large animals.

Many places in China have also explored strategies to prevent and control damage by wild animals. Northwest China's Shaanxi Province has started to build isolation and protection facilities, such as pulse electric fences and vegetation isolation belts, to control damage by wild boars. Nearly 400 infrared cameras have also been set up in the hills and mountains in Jiangsu Province to monitor wild boars.

Thermal imaging drones also proved important in protecting a herd of wandering Asian elephants in southwest China's Yunnan Province in 2021. With the help of thermal imaging drones, the provincial forest fire brigade was able to locate the elephants at night, helping them return to a suitable habitat safe and sound without conflicts with local residents.