A long way from home:

Protecting the last Amur tigers in the Russian Far East

Take a six hour flight to Moscow and you are not even half way there. Across the city you link up for an internal flight and nine hours later you arrive in Vladivostok on Russias most eastern coast. Flanked by China and with Japan a ferry ride across the sea, its a very long way from anywhere; a long way from the relative sophistication of Moscow; a long way from the comfort of home. This is the Russian Far East, a land of vast distances, terrible roads, military and police checkpoints, grey and dilapidated towns and villages, massive unemployment, unimaginable corruption, tens of thousands of illegal guns and lawlessness. It is a very difficult place to live and work. This is a hugely tough environment, says a spokesman for DSWF (the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation), a UK-based charity dedicated to saving the tiger in the wild and in Russia supporting NGO The Phoenix Fund to protect the last 450 Amur tigers on the planet. The stakes are high, a tiger skin can fetch over 35,000 on the black market, its bones and body parts as much again. With demand still strong for tiger parts in Far Eastern markets the wild tiger is in serious trouble. Without action, extinction is a very real possibility. Wildlife artist and founder of DSWF, David Shepherd CBE, is not alone in his passionate declaration that he will not let this happen. In May this year, to mark his 80th birthday, he launched TigerTime, a campaign to raise global awareness of the issues facing the worlds most iconic and loved big cat. Along with projects in Thailand and India, DSWF works closely with the Russian team to support critical anti-poaching activities and education programmes. I take my hat off to the men and women we support in the field, they are on the frontline of conservation, says David Shepherd, who does not use the term frontline lightly. The rangers in the anti-poaching teams live with a very real fear of reprisal from the poaching gangs they encounter, but you cannot fail to be impressed by all of them. Despite being poorly paid and working in a very difficult and dangerous environment they are well-trained, cheerful, enthusiastic, energetic and devoted to their jobs.

take them three hours to reach the remote area of the reserve. There has been heavy snowfall, the snow depth is up to 50cm which hinders deer in their efforts to move and find food. On their way, the rangers put hay in special sheds that protect it from being covered with fresh snow and allows the deer to feed offering a lifeline not only to the grazers but the rare tigers that depend on them for food. Its sunny but freezing the type of beautiful winter wonderland scene depicted on a thousand Christmas cards in homes all over Britain. When the road gets impassable the rangers leave their snowmobiles and continue the patrol on foot. On average they will walk 50km a month. Walking in a knee-high snow they notice the tracks of six people. For more than three hours the rangers follow - then a gunshot rings out. Trying not to frighten the poachers, the team silently approaches the men who are stripping down two freshly shot deer.

in warm offices on scheduled hours, says Victoria Molchanova, conservation projects coordinator at the DSWF supported Phoenix Fund. To be successful in their work they need to maintain an element of surprise; which means they patrol during holidays, at weekends and at night, when it rains, when it snows, when storms break out, because that is when the poachers think no one will catch them. I am very grateful to these brave and devoted people who sacrifice their comfort and risk their lives for the Amur tiger. Supporting these teams is vitally important to the survival of the tiger in the wild, adds David Shepherd. I am delighted that DSWF contributes to this great effort; everyone can. Its our supporters who make the rangers work possible and the survival of the tiger a reality.

widespread slaughter of the big cat. Today only about 20 tigers are thought to survive in China along its border with Russia a population that is not independently viable without contact with the Russian population.

How you can support the rangers

They need jeeps, snowmobiles, winter tents, winter sleeping bags, warm outfits and comfortable tracking boots, thermoses, good communication means like radio-stations and satellite phones and bigger salaries! Your donations to TigerTime will help make a difference to these amazing men as they dedicate their lives to saving the Amur tiger. You can donate online at www.tigertime.info or through DSWF at www.davidshepherd.org

number of the people they have to apprehend are police officers and politicians. Only truly dedicated people cope with a job like this. Add the weather to the mix and this is not a job for the faint hearted. Winters in the Russian Far East are harsh, sub-zero temperatures and metres of deep snow make it a cruel environment for the animals that live there including the last Amur tigers on earth. Prey is hard to find and the fabulously thick orange coat of the largest cat on the planet stands out like a beacon against the deep white snow. Hunters are everywhere looking for opportunities that the deep snow brings; deer trapped in snow drifts make easy pickings and tigers hungry for food are a welcome bonus. Protecting these precious big cats in the southwest of Primorsky region - an area of over 110,000 acres - are three immensely brave rangers: Eugeny Stoma, Andrey Onishenko and Alexander Ermakov. Think of them this Christmas when you are warm and safe and they are tackling armed poaching gangs to save the Amur tiger and its prey. In the last ten months these men have walked 810km on foot patrols, driven 6330km on vehicle patrols, confiscated nine firearms and detained 37 poachers.

My lifestyle might sound like hell to city dwellers but, for me, being so close to nature allows me to live in peace with myself. I want my greatgrandchildren to live in a world where Amur tigers still exist in the wild,
says Andrey Onishenko.
The team are occasionally accompanied by the secret police who are armed with everything from knives to Kalashnikovs, and the rangers themselves have knives, pistols and rifles. They are attacked by poachers with knives, axes and guns on a regular basis (guns were fired on two occasions when the DSWF team last visited) and they and their families are regularly intimidated. The rangers may live in Vladivostok yet they patrol some 600 miles away specifically to cut down on opportunities for criminal poaching gangs to harass their families. This means long periods away from home (typically a two-week patrol followed by a few days off) and many nights are spent sleeping rough in the forest. To make things worse, a surprising

When the hunters spot them a struggle ensues but the team are strong, accustomed to these encounters and all six poachers are arrested for illegal hunting and handed over to police officers. A few days later a criminal case under article 258 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation illegal hunting in a wildlife refuge will convict them. It was a successful patrol and a long day. The team doesnt get back to their work station until midnight where they will spend a brief, cold night before facing another day and a new struggle.

Join the patrol team

Are you brave enough to join the team? A new eco-tourism programme run by the Phoenix Fund (one of TigerTimes beneficiaries) gives you the chance to experience winter anti-poaching patrols in Amur tiger habitat and contribute to the ongoing protection of this amazing cat. If you are interested in finding out more please email: dswf@ davidshepherd.org

A rangers life
With the low salaries and high risk while on duty its hard to understand what motivates these men but most rangers are passionate about protecting the unique biological diversity of their native land and punishing those who would kill a tiger. My lifestyle might sound like hell to city dwellers but, for me, being able to spend the whole day in the forest is rewarding. Yes, I get cold, tired, frightened sometimes, but doing the job that satisfies me morally and being so close to nature allows me to live in peace with myself. I want my great-grandchildren to live in a world where Amur tigers still exist in the wild, says Andrey Onishenko. In addition to their daily patrols, the team conducts between three and six night patrols a month, lays ambushes and waits for poachers for many hours. Once, to get the necessary evidence, rangers had to dive into a freezing river to retrieve a gun that one hunter had tried to get rid of. Being a forest ranger is hard. Their living is very different from the people who work

About the Amur tiger

Formerly called the Siberian tiger, the Amur tiger is the largest big cat on the planet. Poaching and habitat destruction led to its numbers plummeting in the 1980s. Reacting to the crisis, a coalition of conservationists including DSWF, worked to bring the population back from the brink. There are now estimated to be between 350 450 Amur tigers in the wild. It can grow up to 3 metres in length from its nose to the tip of its tail. It lives in the vast taiga forests of the Russian Far East and is threatened not only by poachers but by the illegal logging that brings humans into its habitat. Once, the tiger ranged widely throughout the Russian Far East and across the border into China. But, Chairman Maos declaration in the 1950s that the tiger was a pest led to the

This is their Christmas Day

The team rise long before daybreak to travel 80km on a dirt road to get to the remotest part of the nature reserve - an area loved by poachers. With the temperature at -26 C keeping themselves warm is critical. They have coffee, oatmeal, bread and butter. They wear several layers of clothes and take hot coffee in thermoses. Even with their snowmobiles it will