Tigers and Hunters

Tigers and Hunters in the Russian Far East: Converting Confrontation into Cooperation
The world’s last population of wild Siberian or Amur tigers lives in northern temperate forests of low prey biomass, and therefore requires large tracts of land. The mere 8% of Amur tiger habitat that is protected is insufficient to maintain a viable tiger population over the long term. Therefore, managing habitat outside protected areas (i.e., multiple-use areas) is vital for successful conservation. More than 60,000 registered hunters, who also rely on these multiple-use lands, hunt ungulates and thus compete and even  clash with the region’s tigers. Therefore, WCS has initiated a program to engage hunters in rural communities to help improve wildlife management techniques, increase ungulate numbers, and convert an antagonistic relationship into a cooperative effort. 

The Human Aspect
Hunting is an important recreational and subsistence tradition in the Russian Far East. A huge change from the Soviet days arose during the early 1990s, when local people were given responsibility for the management of game species. Game species of wildlife in about 80% of tiger range are managed by wildlife management organizations (WMOs), which lease about 20 to 250 thousand hectares of land. WMOs are comprised of hunters responsible for managing hunting, controlling poaching and conducting surveys of game species on leased territories. However, only key tiger prey species, not tiger themselves, are the responsibility of WMOs.

Threats
Tiger poaching in Russia is driven by global demand for their bones and other parts used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Hunters also poach tigers to eliminate competition though ungulate poaching is even more common, which eventually forces tigers to take domestic livestock and dogs, and brings them into conflict with rural communities.

WCS Activities
WCS began working with WMOs in 1996 with 3 main goals: build capacity of WMOs to be good land stewards, increase prey populations on multiple-use lands, and defuse the hunter-tiger conflict. To attain these goals WCS initiated the following programs: 
· Education Program for WMO managers: In cooperation with the Institute for Sustainable Use of Natural Resources (a local NGO), WCS developed and implemented a regional education system for WMO managers.  In 2004 a total of 52 WMO managers in Primorskiy Krai (51% of all WMOs in the province) were trained in topics such as wildlife population surveys, anti-poaching techniques, financial management of WMOs, and effective use of computers.
· WMO capacity building:  WCS supports organizations that provide assistance to and representation for regional hunters and wildlife biologists. With WCS, the Union of Wildlife Biologists and Managers developed a framework for wildlife management and hosts the Conference of WMO Managers and Council of Wildlife Biologists and Managers. WCS helped create a legal department within the Krai Society of Hunters, providing advice and representation for hunting leases in legal disputes.
· Model WMOs: Through this program, WCS supports 5 experimental WMOs in piloting new management approaches and serving as models for replication.
· Small Grants Program: WCS supports small projects run by WMOs that aim to reduce poaching, improve habitat for ungulates, and increase economic solvency. In addition, WCS uses the Small Grants Program as an outreach opportunity to educate WMOs.
· Tiger Friendly Certification: This program aims to grow local economies in accordance with environmental integrity and conservation of Amur tigers.  WMOs can be certified as “Tiger Friendly” if they can demonstrate effective poaching control, environmentally sustainable use of natural resources, fair distribution of economic returns derived from our programs, and adequate densities of tigers. Once certified, WMOs obtain the right to sell their products with the Tiger-Friendly eco-label bearing added value directed at tiger conservation.

Important Next Steps
· In the next few years we plan to expand our program into the entire range of Amur tigers in Russia. 
· In the next 3-4 years, steps will be taken to ensure sustainability of our programs.
· The primary focus will be on developing Tiger Friendly products derived from hunting leases, as this program provides the necessary linkages between economic development at the local level, tiger conservation and appropriate use of natural resources on multiple-use lands.