Veterinary support for conservation worldwide
28th Oct 2011
Rare tiger capture provides invaluable data for research team
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An extremely rare Amur tiger has been captured in a remote area of Russia by an international research team searching for the even rarer Amur leopard - boosting the chances of saving both species from extinction.
Capture and examination of the huge male tiger is a major success. Data will provide invaluable information to protect the existing wild leopard population and contribute to a ground-breaking long term project - an Amur leopard reintroduction scheme.
Big cat specialist vet Dr John Lewis, co-founder and director of charity Wildlife Vets International, is with the team in far eastern Russia. He explained: ‘We need to catch, assess and radio collar tigers as well as leopards if we are to discover how they co-exist’.
‘Tigers are present in the proposed leopard reintroduction area and we must know the risks for any leopards released there. Infectious diseases affecting tigers can equally affect leopards so health screening has major conservation relevance for both animals.’
His work on the Amur leopard – the world’s most endangered big cat with as few as 25 left in the wild - positions WVI as the key veterinary support in the programme to save it from extinction in the wild.
Text messages, from an area notorious for poor communications, illustrate the tiger capture build-up: “Fresh tiger prints 1km from camp this morning! Think we are getting closer”, followed by a triumphant; ‘Caught large male tiger! ‘
The tiger, one of just 450 remaining, was anesthetised for examination and released with a GPS tracking collar. It is the only traceable individual in the area, he believes, after signals from previously collared tigers have been lost.
A leopard has been heard close to camp and traces found on aptly-named Leopard Ridge. A large black Asiatic bear has also been captured and data logged.
The team, which includes young Russian field vet Dr. Mr Mikhail Gonchuruk, is half way through a two month programme tracking the elusive, solitary and nocturnal Amur leopard before temperatures plummet below -20 degrees centigrade, inhibiting their sensitive immobilising leg snares.
The project is part of a wider long-term effort to assess the health of wild and captive leopards and their prey base in the wild. The ultimate aim is to provide comprehensive disease screening of both wild and captive Amur leopards so a second population can be safely released into the wild.
WVI needs to raise £25K a year to continue its Amur leopard project support - likely to increase as the breeding and release phases get closer. Data from wild and captive leopards is held in WVI’s Amur leopard Veterinary Database.