China's Siberian tigers come in from the cold

The number of big cats in the northeastern province is rising after decades of conservation efforts, as Zhang Zefeng reports from Hunchun, Jilin.

One evening in July last year, Yang Yongsheng was washing his feet in a creek near his home in the mountains when he noticed a Siberian tiger staring at him from a bush about 3 meters away.

Suddenly something that had puzzled Yang for a few days became clear. "The tiger did it," thought the resident of Yilinangou, a village under the jurisdiction of Hunchun, Jilin province, Northeast China.

"It" was the fact that on three consecutive nights, dogs Yang kept to guard his yard had gone missing. The three leashes that held them to posts had been torn apart.

Yang rushed home, grabbed his smartphone and returned to the spot, where he managed to take several photos of the tiger. A month later, the animal returned and killed another dog.

A year later, with the help of his son, Yang has installed surveillance cameras at his house, focused on the yard. Despite that, the 76-year-old villager is still concerned about his safety.

"If the tiger shows up again, I could be a victim," he said. "Tiger numbers, along with their areas of activity, have increased significantly in recent years."

In the late 1990s, Jilin began a project to protect its natural forests, and established several nature reserves to conserve wildlife habitats. In 2015, commercial logging was banned in the province's key State-owned forests to assist the recovery of woodland resources.

"Those efforts fundamentally alleviate the conflict between timber production and the tigers' need for habitats," said Wu Zhigang, a researcher at the Jilin Provincial Academy of Forestry Science.

According to the latest data from the State Forestry Administration, during the late 1990s there were at most 14 Siberian tigers and 10 Amur leopards in the Changbai Mountains, which run along China's border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Now the figures are 27 and 42 respectively, and a number of cubs have also been spotted.

As the number of endangered species rises, the Jilin government has been exploring innovative solutions to settle conservation problems in nature reserves and create an animal-friendly environment.

Compensation

Early one morning last month, Jia Cunzeng received a call from a neighbor telling him that one of the cows he tended had been found dead at the foot of a mountain where Siberian tigers and other animals live.

Jia, who had previously spotted a tiger's footprints in the area, suspected that a big cat was responsible.

"The owner paid about 20,000 yuan ($3,000) for the cow last year," said the 66-year-old herdsman from Lishugou village in Hunchun. "If my assumption is correct, he will be entitled to compensation."

Judging by the bites and scratches on the carcass, Wu Wenming, an official with the Hunchun forestry bureau, concluded that a Siberian tiger had killed the cow.

"The bite on the cow's neck was fatal," he said. "The provincial government will reimburse the losses caused by the incident."

In 2007, Jilin formulated compensation guidelines to cover damage caused by wild animals. In recent years, the number of attacks has risen.

According to Zhang Jinyan, an official at the bureau, cases of wild animals, such as tigers, bears and boars, attacking livestock or destroying crops have risen from 228 in 2007 to 707 last year.

This year, tigers have already killed between 60 and 70 animals.

"The reimbursement plan guarantees the interests of local people whose properties are damaged by wild animals," Wu said. "To a degree, it mitigates conflicts between endangered species and the people who share the land with them."

Alternative incomes

Since 2013, when China signaled the construction of a national park system, the central government has taken a number of measures, including banning commercial logging in key State-owned forests in the northeastern provinces.

One of the national parks, which straddles Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, is scheduled to become a sanctuary for endangered tigers and leopards.

Since 2015, State-owned forest farms in Jilin have shifted from logging to creating green industries, such as tourism, to raise incomes while protecting the environment.

Wang Caijin, who used to work as a logger at the Dahuangou forest farm in Hunchun, was deeply worried when he was forced to quit his job, the only work he had ever known.

"Loggers who are not allowed to log are like farmers who don't have land to farm," he said.

Like many of his former colleagues who have stopped logging and become forest rangers, Wang got a job in the forest, assessing potential fire hazards.

The logging ban removed the forestry bureau's main source of revenue, so Wang's salary, which mostly came from government funding, shrank significantly.

To raise incomes and accommodate the rising number of tourists attracted by recently-established scenic spots nearby, the forest farm provided Wang with financial support that enabled him to open a home inn.

The sideline has boosted Wang's income by an extra 10,000 yuan a month, three times the average wage of a forestry worker. He now owns a car and leads a satisfying life.

"For 32 years, logging was my only source of income," he said. "Now, I don't have to rely on labor-intensive work and my income is much higher."

Officials at the Tianqiaoling forestry bureau in Wangqing, near Hunchun, have also transformed the local economy in an ecologically friendly way.

In recent years, the bureau has successfully cultivated 10,000 mu (666 hectares) of seedlings and 8,000 mu of medicinal herbs, including important ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine, such as ginseng.

Incomes are rising as forestry workers take part-time jobs, such as cultivating edible fungi, beekeeping and raising pigs, chickens and frogs.

Last year, the local black fungus industry employed 1,997 workers and generated more than 100 million yuan, according to the bureau.

"We are relying on our renewable forestry resources to achieve economic growth," said Cao Yongfu, the bureau's director. "Workers who are willing to make changes to improve their lives are given a lot of support."

Raising awareness

In addition to time-trusted methods, such as educating hunters to stop them hunting and involving local communities in tiger conservation, forestry bureaus are also working to improve awareness of protection among the younger generation.

"We believe that educating younger people is an important and effective method. It can actually affect three generations," said Jia Lihong, director of the publicity center at the Hunchun National Siberian Tiger Nature Reserve.

In 2010, Li Zhixing, secretary-general of the Hunchun Tianhe Siberian Tiger Protection Society, published a textbook called Love my Hometown, Love Siberian Tigers in the hope of improving students' awareness of the tigers and environmental protection.

"I want the students to learn about ecological matters from the local environment, which is mainly represented by Siberian tigers," Li said, adding that the tiger is an "umbrella species", whose survival indirectly protects other species in its habitat. "Protecting tigers protects other wildlife in the ecosystem."

The book has been widely used in Hunchun's primary and middle schools, and it has been adopted by schools in nearby Wangqing and Huangnihe this year.

Zang Yunjuan, a secondary school teacher who has used the book since it was published, has witnessed a significant improvement in students' awareness.

"In the past, few students understood the importance of Siberian tigers and why they should be protected," she said.

"Now, they not only understand the necessity of protecting tigers and other endangered species, but they also see the importance of taking care of the local environment."

Contact the writer at zhangzefeng@chinadaily.com.cn