With the dwindling tiger population throughout its range, this alternative conservation model is playing an increasingly important role. Recently, Ms. Quan and the
Director of the Smithsonian's Conservation Biology Institute gave a joint US congressional briefing on the role of reintroduction in wildlife conservation and the challenges facing zoo-born
predator re-introduction. On June 26th, Dr. John Seidensticker of the Global Tiger Initiative also pronounced the importance of rewilding and re-introduction in tiger conservation.
"I am really pleased that our initially unorthodox approach to saving the South China Tiger has not only produced positive results, but our method is now regarded by
many of the world's foremost feline scientists as one of the key tools to save the tigers from extinction", said L. Quan.
Abstract*
Many wildlife management projects have been conducted throughout the world that may involve: rehabilitation, re-introduction or translocation. Few of these
activities have successfully been conducted using captive bred predators. Rewilding describes the processes in which carnivores that have been in zoo conditions for generations and have no
survival skills for the wild, re-learn the hunting and skills in a natural environment to prepare them to be reintroduced to the wild.
The South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) is recognised by the IUCN as the most endangered of the remaining six extant subspecies of tigers. There are
believed to be fewer than 30, if any at all, left in the wild. The only option to revive this tiger in the wild is through reintroduction of captive-bred individuals. Save China’s Tigers project
aims to utilise rewilded captive bred tigers and their offspring as catalysts to restore and secure habitat for their release in China. In the wild, offspring of tigers are known to spend
up to 28 months with their mothers when they acquire and develop hunting and survival skills. Captive-bred tigers lack these essential hunting skills and need to be rewilded before they can be
reintroduced.
Tiger rewilding initially started in China in the 1990’s. Laohu Valley Reserve (LVR) in the Free State of South Africa was restored from 17 sheep farms to serve as
the environment to fast track the rewilding project. Five tigers have been transferred from zoos in China to Laohu Valley since 2003.
The tigers have been confined to one area of the reserve, subdivided into different-sized camps (0.5 to 100ha), depending on objectives for individual tigers. The
number of camps increased over the years as the number of tigers increased, and the sizes of the hunting camps were modified as tigers became more experienced and skilled, and to accommodate the
tigers’ development and mimic their movement according to their age. The tiger camps are secured with electrified fences.
There are three categories of camp sizes, according to the age of the tigers and their ability to hunt: quarantine/smaller camps, intermediate camps, advanced
rewilding camps. All camps are equipped with natural or supplemental water supplies.
The Rewilding methodology was initially developed for Save China’s Tigers by Gus Van Dyk, former Carnivore Manager at Pilanesberg National Park of South Africa, and
been fine-tuned throughout Save China’s Tigers rewilding programme, which has followed “Adaptive Management” procedures. The methods have evolved as the project progresses, to suit the changing
needs and situations.
Zoo-born tigers that originated from China, were introduced to ungulate prey where rewilding involved “self-taught” or "trial and error" learning. Second generation
tigers born in South Africa, were rewilded by: 1) learning survival skills from their mothers-“Natural Learning (NL)”, and 2) a combination of mother-teaching and NL without their mother’s
accompaniment.
Components such as “Pavlov” training, prey species and their sizes, animal and human safety procedures, human habituation, veterinarian provisions, data
collection/monitoring, treatment, and ethics are discussed in the rewilding guidelines.
Details of fencing structure, camps characteristics, prey species for hunting training and feeding, as well as monitoring sheets are also included in the rewilding
guidelines, which can be obtained from Save China’s Tigers and reviewed for rewilding projects of other large felines.
* Voir la controverse à ce sujet dans le Guardian du 27 juillet . Information gracieusement transmise par Kirsten Conrad, voir son article très circonstancié
concernant l'économie des fermes à tigres, sur :
http://www.tiger-economics.com/
Gaia Vince in Geneva
Friday July 27 2012
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/26/china-ban-tiger-farms
The UK and India have called on China and other countries to ban tiger
farms because they undermine conservation efforts.
But China responded strongly at the meeting of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in Geneva, challenging
delegates to "show us the evidence that [tiger farms] encourage poaching
of wild tigers".
There are thought to be around 3,000 tigers remaining in the wild,
reduced from a population of 100,000 in 1900. Conservationists warn that
they may become extinct in the wild in the next 20 years.
China banned trade in tiger parts in 1993, but since then the country's
large-scale commercial breeding of tigers in captivity has boomed. There
are now more than 5,000 tigers in around 20 farms run as tourist
attractions by politically influential businessmen. There are also tiger
farms in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.
In 2007, governments meeting at Cites agreed to phase out tiger farms,
but without a clear plan or date for doing so. On Wednesday, India and
the UK said it was time to take action.
However, Wan Ziming, China's Cites delegate, told the Guardian: "There is no evidence that farming of tigers threatens wild tigers."
The majority of wild tigers, around 1,700 Bengal sub-species, are found
in India, which is the country doing the most to protect them. In the
past five years, India has set up a special tiger protection force,
increased its tiger habitats by voluntary eviction of human populations
from conservation zones, villagers receive compensation and rehousing and
are also compensated when their livestock are eaten by tigers.
On Tuesday, India's supreme court took the unprecedented step of banning
all tourism in the central "core zones" of tiger reserves
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-18967906" title="">step of
banning all tourism in the central "core zones]. The temporary ban, which
will be revised after a month and which takes place during India's
monsoon closures, is in response to conservationists' concerns about
unsustainable numbers of tourists crowding sensitive areas.
India says that the biggest threat faced by its tigers is from poachers
? a problem that is escalating. More than 200 tiger part seizures have
been made annually since 2009 according to Traffic, a group that monitors
trade in wildlife.
The biggest market for tiger products is China, according to Traffic, . A
thriving black market openly persists, with tiger skins and bone being
sold for hundreds of dollars in China, Taiwan and Korea. The bone is used
as a remedy for everything from ulcers to typhoid. And tiger bone ground
into a wine - costing upwards of $120 - is an increasingly popular
high-status symbol.
"People might give a bottle of tiger bone wine to their boss to encourage
a promotion, and it's used to sweeten business deals," says Sabri Zain of
Traffic, who's been investigating ways of reducing demand for tiger parts.
"Public education doesn't work," he says. "You can put up billboards of
slaughtered tigers, but it won't stop people buying tiger wine - we've
seen that." Instead, Zain says his group is formalising a plan to work
with a few corporate leaders who they hope will come out and openly
denounce tiger wine. "We need to make it undesirable - socially
unacceptable to drink tiger wine or do business deals with others who
give or receive the wine. And we need to provide high-status, tiger-free
alternatives."
Zain says that the existence of tiger farms helps foster the idea of the
animals as commercial products. And with the private owners of these
expensive operations campaigning to be allowed to sell tiger parts, he
worries that demand will only increase. "China has a 1.3 billion
population, which is getting richer. If only a small percent of those
desire tiger parts, the increase in poaching to satisfy them has a huge
impact on just 3000 tigers," Zain says.
Separately at this week's Cites meeting, the World Bank pledged a
$100,000 fund to look into the impact of tiger farms on poaching.
Tiger farm, ici au Vietnam
