The Amur tiger is an endangered subspecies of tiger confined to the Russian Far East and north-eastern China. With just under 600 individuals remaining in the world, information on their whereabouts, habitat use, and population genetics is essential. Most of these tigers are found in Russia, but a smaller, isolated population of just 11-14 individuals exists straddling the Russia-China border. This subspecies has the lowest genetic variation of all tigers, but the two subpopulations have difficulty mixing because of large railways, roads, wetlands and deforested, human-dominated areas blocking their path. Hunchun nature reserve was established along the border to protect tigers and the equally endangered Amur leopard.

To help understand this population’s habitat requirements and thereby improve conservation, a long-term camera trapping project was set up in the reserve and the surrounding areas. Over 12 months, 356 cameras captured images of tigers and leopards in their natural habitat, 21 individual tigers were identified from the photos. They preferred low elevation forest, presumably because their main prey, the sika deer, also lives there. Tigers also avoided habitats with large numbers of cattle or that were too close to human settlements or roads. While it is good news that the tiger population has increased and is expanding into China, human activity outside the protected area means tigers might struggle there. Effective conservation would require a reduction in grazing intensity and deforestation to form corridors connecting to forest patches deeper inside China – and luckily, a 2016 government initiative plans to do just that.

Further Reading:
Wang, Tianming, et al. “Living on the edge: Opportunities for Amur tiger recovery in China.” Biological Conservation 217 (2018): 269-279.