Governments are now starting to take active roles in the preservation of endangered species. While much has yet to be done, people are now banding together to help the creatures and to make sure that the balance in nature’s wildlife is kept well-maintained.
While there are still poachers out there, laws have been made to protect these animals. More importantly, investors are starting to put their money to good use by building safe sanctuaries where these creatures can thrive and can live in peace.
Tigers, for instance, have been living in danger. China is home to a population of the world’s most endangered tiger. Hence, the people are now taking careful measures to ensure that the future generations will be able to can see them in the wild. They have come up with the perfect solution, and that is to create a national park that’s two times the size of Yellowstone. This has been a great start for them and is also one way to ensure that their vision comes true.
China realized the importance and because they have come up with this gigantic space where the tigers can roam, the fruits of their labor have finally come through. They came up with the latest population censuses on the critically-endangered Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), What they did was come up with a camera trap footage. The film shows a total of 55 tigers that now prowl the four forested nature reserves in the country’s cold northeastern region.
Back in 2016, with Amur tiger and leopard numbers were perturbingly low. Hence, this was why the Chinese government had established the Northeast Tiger Leopard National Park. Right now, this is considered to be the largest tiger reserve on Earth as it covers an impressive 5,800 square miles (15,000 square kilometers) of land area.
Population surveys from 2013 to 2018 were also made. These covered the area within the park and other nearby reserves. They had made estimations and saw that the northeast of China could carry a population of as many as 310 tigers. There were hurdles to face, of course, because huge ranges of unbroken habitat were needed and these were required in order to sustain large cold-weather cats. The researchers looked into what the government had done and the steps they took to ensure that this was made possible, and they came to the conclusion that this goal is now attainable.
For China to exist without this tiger would have posed quite a conundrum. They have a “year of the tiger,” which is a big deal for them. This gigantic cat had been depicted time and again in embroidery, porcelain, imperial sculpture, and painting for several centuries. One of the many animal forms of Kung Fu is the tiger. They have come a cultural icon as many believe that they offer protection. In reality, while large ecosystems of this magnitude isn’t necessary, but because these majestic cats are revered, they have made every effort to go beyond expectations.
The northeastern portion of China has been dominated by heavy industry for years. In the recent years, however, they have slowly shifted away from coal and timber harvesting. The changes made has started to make huge differences in the land-use and the demographics available in the region. More importantly, this has also afforded them with the chance to truly make a difference.
The surveyors also made some recommendations. They believe that there should also be an increased availability of prey species. This move could actually be another positive knock-on effect of increased tiger conservation in the country. With such a move, this would not only boost the natural processes of the ecosystem, being able to provide food for the tigers, leopards and carrion birds, but this can also aid in the creation of a better natural stability, as a forest deprived of herbivores is hampered from achieving its idyllic health.
Moreover, they have made sure that they have a greater number of game species for the tigers. They have been provided with a few cattle and dogs to eat as this has been a problem in the past that had somewhat been an obstacle to their recovery in some of the regions.
“Persistent efforts to protect tigers have paid off,” Dale Miquelle told Mongabay. He is the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Russia. This was also another nation that has helped an Amur tiger rebound. He further stated, “Change has not come quickly, but there has been slow, steady progress, and we see there are great opportunities for even more recovery.”
The year 2022 will be the Chinese Year of the Tiger. Efforts all over the world have been made to double the number of these cats in the wild. Many are coming quite close to victory because countries such as China, India, Nepal, Russia, even Myanmar and Malaysia have all done something about it. They are all experiencing growth in the number of tigers in their area as well. Moreover, Russia’s policies has brought about a 100-cat growth in the numbers of Amur tigers in their far-eastern region. This had happened over a ten-year period.
This is what they call the “TX2” Initiative. Many say that this is the most ambitious conservation project ever undertaken. Yes, saving a total of 6,000 tigers may be a tad too ambitious, but their aspirations were much more powerful. Right now, millions of acres of habitat have been created and because of such, the tiger populations have grown by 1,000 tigers or more in just this decade.
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