Save The Tiger UI-Russia Tiger Project Gets National Publicity

It’s a story few can resist - scientists from opposite corners of the world uniting to save the world’s largest cats from extinction.

Since the Moscow-based Hornocker Wildlife Institute’s Siberian Tiger Project was featured in February’s National Geographic, its media popularity has soared. The phones were ringing off the hook Monday.

“There was a lot of interest today, both media and people calling for information. We are trying to capitalize on it as much as possible,” said Kathy Quigley, veterinary coordinator for the project.

“There’s always more to do and never enough money.”

Last Friday, University of Idaho wildlife biologist Dr. Maurice Hornocker appeared on NBC Nightly News to talk about his mountain lion research and the tiger project.

The next day, NBC aired an hourlong National Geographic special, “Tigers of the Snow,” documenting American and Russian biologists’ efforts to save the species. A film crew followed the project and its biologists for three years, capturing never-before-seen images of the cat and its habitat.

The Idaho-Russian effort began nearly a decade ago, when UI wildlife biologist Howard Quigley broached the subject with scientists from the Soviet Academy of Sciences. The visitors were comparing Idaho’s wildlands with forests at similar latitudes in Russia.

In conversations about the endangered tigers of Russia, Quigley proposed a cooperative venture to study the cats. Since then, the coalition of 20 scientists has conducted significant research and launched the world’s largest tiger-conservation effort.

Money raised through private and corporate donations addresses the tigers’ two main threats: disappearing forests and illegal poaching.

Now that Siberia’s borders with China and North Korea are open, poachers have easier access to tigers, Quigley said. The animals are worth up to $20,000 per carcass in Asia, where the skins, bones and genitals are believed to have medicinal value.

The project also helps teach Russian children more about the ecology and biology of the area, particularly tiger habitat.

Last year, 60 pieces of art from Moscow, Idaho, school children depicting Idaho wildlife was exhibited in a Russian village, while art from Russian children featuring their native animals was exhibited at UI.

The wildlife institute has focused much of its efforts this year on educating Russians about the threatened tigers. Actor Bruce Willis is featured in a poster, holding one of the cubs and asking for help from the Russian people.

Those efforts seem to be working, since the number of Siberian tigers killed by poachers has declined from about 50 to 10 per year. The tiger population, which Russian officials predicted would shrink to 100 by 1997, has grown to more than 400.

“That’s the best news - that there’s hope for the Siberian tigers, and the project is making a difference,” Quigley said.

, DataTimes MEMO: IDAHO HEADLINE: Save that tiger