Tiger Gadgets for a New Generation

Catnappers they’re not—they only “borrowed” the cubs. The team of scientists who recently fitted three wild 40-day-old Siberian tigers with tiny radio-collars performed the operation so swiftly that the cats’ mom never even found out. As a result of their efforts, this blue-eyed, precocious-pawed trio will provide conservationists with crucial insights into the challenges cubs face, and may help improve the survival and reproduction of this largest of the cat species.

Working near the Sikhote-Alin Reserve, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), together with their colleagues from the Russian Far East, located the tiger den by following the signal transmitted by the collar of a 13-year-old tigress named Lidya. The researchers then waited until Lidya left the den site before searching for the cubs, which they found hidden in a collection of rocks on the top of a hill. Two of the littermates remained calm as the researchers handled and measured them, but the third spent most of the time “roaring” at its captors. Unfazed, the researchers marked their weight at 12 to 14 pounds each, then collected hair and blood samples for genetic and disease analysis. Finally, the team fitted them with the five-ounce elastic collars—small enough to fit on a large house cat and designed to fall off as the tigers grow—and returned them to their den.

Radio telemetry has provided scientists with critical information about the needs of the Siberian tiger, an animal so elusive that few field researchers have seen one in its natural habitat. WCS has been monitoring tigers in the Russian Far East since 1992. Researchers are particularly interested in understanding more about the mortality of tiger cubs, only half of which survive their first year.
 
The cubs represent Lidya’s fourth litter since she was fitted with a radio-collar in 1999. “Lidya is probably the most successful tigress we’ve collared since we started this project, not just because she’s had lots of litters, but because she’s a careful mom and most of her cubs survive,” said John Goodrich, a WCS researcher and the head of the Siberian Tiger Project. “By tracking these cubs, if we can somehow improve their chances, we can make a big difference in helping the population to grow.”
 
Last year, WCS scientists collared their first Siberian tiger litter; all three cubs continue to do well.

Read more about how the Wildlife Conservation Society is working to protect tigers and their habitats:

Micro-Sites:
Saving Tigers
Wildlife Conservation Society in China

Fact Sheets:
Siberian Tiger Project
Tigers and Hunters

Articles:
Siberian Tigers Hang Tough
Range-Wide Tiger Count in Russian Far East

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