Our Projects: Tigers of the Russian Far East
DSWF supported since: 1994
PRESS RELEASE: Cinderella released back into the wild
PRESS RELEASE: Amur tiger under threat after a tragic year of loses
November 27: Three orphaned cubs found - watch the video
November 2012: Prestigious Rolex Award for Project Director, Sergei Bereznuk
August 2012: Amur tiger family wiped out by poachers
Read about our Tiger team in Russia this Christmas - open the pdf (left)
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent relaxation of border controls and opening trade routes, the Russian Far East has become a major source of illegal wildlife products to satisfy the consumer markets across the border, especially in China. By the winter of 1993, officials estimated that 60 rare Amur tigers were being poached each year, and that numbers had crashed to fewer than 100, due to a loss of habitat, prey base and poaching.
DSWF immediately responded to the crisis helping to save the Amur tiger from certain extinction. And, since 1994, has been jointly funding anti-poaching activities, which are now run by local Russian NGO ‘The Phoenix Fund’.
Today, from its base in Vladivostok, The Phoenix Fund supports professionally trained and well-equipped anti-poaching teams who regularly patrol two national parks - Primorye and South of Khabarovsky krai - and investigate smuggling and conflict tiger cases. By the project's tenth anniversary, the wild tiger population had climbed back to a sustainable level of almost 450.
Working with other international NGO's in the Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA), DSWF money is sent directly to The Phoenix Fund to support anti-poaching operations with vital equipment such as snow mobiles, radios, jeeps, fuel and rations and paying informants. Funding also supports a strong and growing educational awareness programme, community work, environmental workshops and training programmes.
Sign up to TigerTime to help us save the tiger in the wild. It's free to do and your support will help make the difference between survival and extinction for the tiger. Click here.
