Monitoring ramped up at wildlife park

Tiger, leopard reserve installs system to track animals after biting incident

Over 28,000 infrared cameras and more than 4,000 pieces of supporting equipment have been installed at the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, forming a Sky-to-Earth monitoring system to protect the wild animals and people.

The park, which was formally established in 2021 after a trial phase in August 2017, is the only protected area in China where Siberian tigers and Amur leopards can breed in the wild.

It covers an area of 14,100 square kilometers across the provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang.

"We implemented graded control measures to issue warnings about the presence of large wild animals such as Siberian tigers, leopards and bears," said Cheng Zhigang, an official from the Hunchun administration bureau of the park. "Once the system detects them within a straight-line distance of 3 to 5 km from a village, it will issue a Level 3 warning. We will notify the nearby villages' Party secretaries to inform local residents to avoid unnecessary activities in mountain areas."

"A straight-line distance of 1 to 2 km will trigger a Level 2 warning, requiring immediate notification to officials from the local government and surrounding villages, and residents will be advised to stay within their villages and avoid solitary activities," he said. "Staff members from nearby protection stations will be deployed to promote wildlife protection knowledge, prohibit all mountain entry activities and persuade villagers to return from the mountains to prevent human-wildlife conflicts.

"When the straight-line distance is within 1 km, a Level 1 warning will be activated," Cheng said. "The protection stations, local forestry police and border forces will initiate a joint warning, notifying residents to stay indoors unless necessary, and sealing off key locations and routes until the large animals leave."

The establishment and application of the monitoring system mark the entry of natural resource monitoring and supervision in national parks into the era of big data and artificial intelligence, according to the park's administration bureau.

Data from the bureau shows that as of October, the system has cumulatively monitored over 26,000 instances of Siberian tigers and over 34,000 instances of leopards approaching human habitats, issuing more than 20,000 human-tiger conflict warnings.

It has achieved day and night recognition of over 30 species, with an accuracy rate of over 90 percent for Siberian tigers and leopards.

The system enables real-time analysis of animal activity regularities, spatial distribution trends and population activity trends, effectively reducing the risk of human-wildlife conflicts and safeguarding people's lives and property.

The Heilongjiang Forestry and Grassland Bureau on Wednesday issued a notice on the prevention of human-tiger conflicts after a villager of Changtai village in the province's Boli county was bitten on the left hand by a tiger.

At 6:38 am on Monday, the 110 command center of the county's public security bureau received a report that a tiger was spotted at around 6 am.

In areas where Siberian tigers move frequently, warning signs should be set up at important intersections to remind people to be vigilant, according to the notice.

It also reminded people to avoid entering the forest area alone.

After the incident occurred, the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park Administration Bureau activated its emergency response plan and insurance claim procedures.

If the injury is confirmed to have been caused by a Siberian tiger, the insurance claim process will be initiated immediately, according to the bureau.

The incident occurred approximately 200 km outside the park's boundaries.

According to the Compensation Measures for Losses Caused by Wild Animals in the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park (Trial), in the event of personal injury caused by Siberian tigers or leopards within Jilin and Heilongjiang, compensation will be provided after on-site verification by the insurance company.

From 2022 to 2024, more than 5,700 cases of wildlife damage were processed, and compensation of over 17.6 million yuan ($2.4 million) was paid to people for losses related to crops, livestock and personal injuries, fully protecting the legitimate rights and interests of forest farmers and workers, the bureau said.

"According to monitoring data from Beijing Normal University, the number of wild tigers near the border in Heilongjiang's Jiamusi and Mudanjiang is increasing, some of which are entering China from Russia," Zhang Jianxu, a researcher at the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told thecover.cn on Tuesday. "The Siberian tiger that hurt the villager may have come from Russia."

zhouhuiying@chinadaily.com.cn