Madam, – Reports of the presence of a Siberian tiger in the Wanda mountains of Northern China, if true, very exciting news indeed (Bulletin page, March 2nd).
China’s native tiger subspecies, the South China tiger is extinct in the wild, due to years of officially sanctioned persecution under the Maoist regime and latterly because of habitat destruction and human encroachment. The Siberian or Amur tiger’s story is a much happier one, as it has been under legal protection in Russia for many years, with Vladimir Putin personally encouraging its conservation. The result is a thriving population of some 500 to 600 of these magnificent big cats roaming the vast forests of south-eastern Siberia.
They were once found over much of north China, Manchuria and Korea. A century ago there were 100,000 wild tigers in Asia. Now fewer than 4,000 remain. The Russian experience shows what can be done if the will is there. Maybe the year of the tiger will raise awareness of the vulnerability of these iconic big cats. – Yours, etc,