A new nature reserve was built in
Jilin
Province, northeast China, not long ago after six years'
preparations in a bid to boost China's consistent efforts to
protect endangered species of Manchurian tiger and Far East
leopard.
The Hunchun Nature Reserve borders on China and Russia, and covers
an area of 88,913 square km. It is China's second provincial nature
reserve, following a similar one in Huangnihe of the province,
which was established last year.
Wild animal experts estimated there are three to five Manchurian
tigers and two to four Far East leopards living in the Hunchun
Nature Reserve.
Wu
Zhigang, a wild animal expert from the Jilin Provincial Academy of
Forestry, said that the newly launched nature reserve will lay a
solid foundation for future cross-border protection of the species
now at the verge of extinction.
Wild Manchurian tigers, among the first-class protected species in
China, are mainly found in Russia's Far East region, northeast
China and the Korean Peninsular. The number of the animal species
worldwide is estimated at less than 500, most of them in Russia and
12 to 16 in China.
A
survey by Chinese, American and Russian experts, organized by the
United Nations
Development Program in 1997 to 1999, found the dense forest in
Jilin is the haunt of seven to nine Manchurian tigers.
Experts said that establishing nature reserves is the best way to
protect the big cats.
A
recent agreement between China and Russia is expected to lead to
the establishment of a nature reserve along the lower reaches of
the Wusuli River on the China-Russia border to protect the
species.
Tigers originated in east and central Asia some one million years
ago. To date three out of the eight tiger subspecies have become
extinct. China now has four tiger subspecies.
( November 12, 2001)