Russia offers North Korea to jointly search for tigers and leopards

Russian experts have proposed a joint program for the study of Far Eastern leopards and Amur tigers in the border areas. The project was prepared by the Directorate of Reserves “Land of the Leopard” in Primorye. This was reported by representatives of the institution.

The issue of scientific cooperation was considered at the second meeting of the profile subcommittee of the Intergovernmental Commission of Russia and the DPRK on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation. The meeting was held via video link under the leadership of Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia Dmitry Tetenkin and Deputy Minister of State Territory and Environment Protection of the DPRK Kim Myung Chor.

Russian scientists have identified the proposed migration route of predators from Primorye and identified four promising forest areas for survey. They are located in the area of the city of Rason and the province of Hamgen-Pukdo. In the future, experts suggest expanding research to the southern slopes of Mount Paektusan in Yangando province.

The first stage of the program will be the winter registration of animals on tracks in the snow. Then the scientists intend to organize photo monitoring. To do this, it is planned to place at least 80 photo traps in places of confirmed predator presence. The resulting images will allow to recognize individual tigers and leopards.

The transition to practical research preparation was the next stage of cooperation after the visit of the North Korean delegation to Primorye in September. Then the experts of the DPRK visited the territory of the reserve “Land of the leopard”.

Director of the institution Viktor Bardyuk said that the camera traps in the Russian protected areas, located a few kilometers from the border with the DPRK, have already registered nine Far Eastern leopards, including four broods of kittens. In addition, the cameras recorded six adult Amur tigers.

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