Siberian Tiger Introduction Project
Siberian tigers used to be common on either side of the Amur River in Russia and China, as well as in northeastern Mongolia and South Korea.
[8] The southeastern shore of Lake Balkhash where the Ili River discharges and forms a large delta was also chosen as a suitable habitat.
[6][9] Igor Chestin, director of the Russian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), hopes to reintroduce tigers into the region within the next few years, though there is a need to enlarge the potential prey base by increasing the existing populations of the already established Russian saiga antelope, the Siberian roe deer subspecies capreolus pygargus tianchanicus, the middle Asian wild boar, and the Turkmen Goitered gazelle already living in that area.
Hopefully also in the future, we'll also be able to reintroduce Wild Bactrian camels, and Mongolian gazelles to Kazakhstan as potential tiger food and for ecosystem restoration.
[14][15] In December 2010, one of the Siberian tigers at the Eram Zoo died due to a feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection.
[16] In 2011, Iran requested four more Siberian tigers and invited conservation experts from Russia to support the introduction project for the Caspian Sea coast.
[18][19] The future introduction of Siberian tigers is planned as part of the ambitious rewilding project at Pleistocene Park in the Kolyma river basin in northern Yakutia, Russia, provided the population of herbivores such as muskox, Yakutian horse, and Reindeer, reach a size capable of supporting large predators.
[22] North Korea was urged to join Russia and China in saving the Siberian tiger after the latest census revealed that only 562 individuals live in the wild.
According to the director of the Amur branch of the WWF, analysis of satellite imagery of North Korea has shown that the northern part of the country has suitable conditions for releasing Siberian tigers.
