National Geographic: Tigers of the Snow (1996)

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National Geographic: Tigers of the Snow (1996)

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On the edge of a lush forest

in Coastal Siberia,

a hunter is on the prowl.

Terney,

A small town in Far East Russia.

This is no longer a place of exile,

but today's Siberians

must eke out a hard living,

trapping, fishing, and logging.

They live on

one of the last frontiers -

surrounded by a vast

and largely untamed wilderness.

And still, out there somewhere,

a legend lives.

A creature of fearful power

and stunning beauty.

It is the biggest cat on earth...

the Siberian tiger.

Today wildlife biologists

seek to study the tiger

and perhaps to save it.

About three hundred Siberian tigers

survive in the wild.

And they are perilously

close to extinction.

These Russian and American scientists

must get close to one of the most

dangerous animals in the world.

But while some seek

the elusive tigers in the wild...

one Russian scientist

is studying them in captivity:

mating and hunting.

Made for Siberia,

this splendid cat can sprint across

the snows at fifty miles an hour.

Magnificent. Mysterious.

Highly dangerous and

highly endangered.

This is the great Siberian -

The Tiger of the Snow.

A vast stretch of forest

blankets Russia

with a fourth of the world's

timber reserves.

Until recently the Siberian Tiger

thrived here in secure isolation.

Under the strict dictates

of the old Soviet system,

the tiger was protected.

But today, enforcement is lax.

Rampant poaching

has dramatically reduced

the population of tigers in the wild.

In the Asian medicine market,

everything from the eyes

to the tail is valued

for its legendary curative powers.

The magnificent coat alone

might fetch ten thousand dollars.

But poachers aren't the only thr*at.

The tiger's habitat,

part of the largest natural forest

in the world,

is rapidly disappearing.

It's being cut at a rate of

ten million acres a year.

When authorities confiscate a pelt

from the poachers

it must be destroyed so it will

never find its way to market.

Recalling a poet's famous words...

"Tiger, Tiger burning bright

in the forests of the night..."

The coast of Eastern Siberia.

The Siberian tiger once ranged

across much of the Asian continent.

Once they numbered in the thousands.

Now, only some three hundred survive

in a narrow band of mountains

on the Sea of Japan.

The Siberia of legend

is a frozen wasteland.

In fact, parts of the forest

are temperate - even subtropical.

Here,

Russian and American scientists

are seeking to study

wild Siberian tigers

in a last-ditch effort to save them.

Dr. Maurice Hornocker,

an American big cat authority,

has brought desperately needed

technology to this crucial effort.

"Yeah, that's good, too."

In the past, Russian scientists

could study the tigers only in winter,

when their tracks

could be followed in the snow.

Now, with radio tracking devices,

the elusive cats can be studied

sight-unseen - and year-round.

"My first work with cats,

with the mountain lions

in North America, in Idaho,

everyone said it couldn't be done -

and I've always liked a challenge.

We've used the tiger population

as target species

but we've studied the entire

ecosystem.

Because of the immense area

that the tiger needs to exist

defines entire watersheds,

entire systems

that the prey must also utilize.

So you can literally define

an entire ecosystem

by studying a big cat."

The scientists pick up

a radio signal from a tiger

somewhere in the thick forest below.

In fact, it's a number of tigers.

And incredibly,

they're out in the open.

Siberian tigers are so rare and elusive

that even a fleeting glimpse

like this

is a landmark event

for the scientists.

"When we saw that female and

those cubs

on its lakeshore - wide open view - first time

that a female Siberian tiger and

her cubs had ever been observed

and photographed from the air -

it was one of the most thrilling

events in my professional career."

Hornocker's team has tracked

some dozen tigers by radio,

trying to determine such

essential facts

as their range and distribution.

At the field lab of the Hornocker

Wildlife Institute,

Maurice is briefed by Dale Miquelle,

who's been coordinating the field

study for the past three years.

"...we've got five females

that we've got good information

on their home ranges.

Um, we've got Olga, the four,

first female we captured

who's now in a home range

that only includes a little piece

of the reserve, actually,

um, and then we've got..."

Together with their Russian colleagues,

they need to quickly establish

a management plan for the tigers.

"The, one of the things that's interesting about all of this

is that all these animals travel

outside the boundaries of the reserve

so, even though the reserve is vast,

it's not large enough

to maintain these females

in their entire home range."

Time is running out.

Even now,

logging roads skirt the reserve,

where only some twenty tigers

roam over 1300 square miles.

The researchers receive word

that a tiger has been caught

in one of their snares...

a chance to add a new animal

to their study group.

Bart Schleyer and Dr. Hornocker

prepare to sedate the tiger.

"I don't see her."

There is no way of knowing

how securely the tiger is trapped.

He could suddenly pull free

and then they would have only

a few seconds to save themselves.

A tranquilizer dart should quiet the tiger down.

Still, the dosage required

is always in doubt.

Too much endangers the tigers.

Too little, the researchers.

It's a three-year-old male.

When fully grown, at about age six,

he'll weigh six hundred pounds

or more.

But even now he's an armful.

"This is about all we can do, guys.

He's just too heavy. This is good."

They carry the tiger

to better ground.

"Gonna lubricate his eyes."

His eyes must be

artificially lubricated

since the blink response is sedated.

"Let's get this snare off."

These massive jaws can cr*ck

the spine of a wild boar

with a single bite.

"Young male tiger."

Its feet are like thickly padded

snowshoes... with retractable claws!

"Boy, he's a beautiful animal."

"Yeah, gorgeous."

The radio collar allows them

to track the tiger

and help answer some

crucial questions:

How much territory

do the tigers require?

How many elk and deer and boar?

How do they react

to human encroachment?

Suddenly, the tiger is having

trouble breathing.

They desperately try to revive him.

"I'm gonna give him something."

"And someone should keep..."

"His eyes are moving."

"Yeah, but his breaths are real low."

"Give it to him."

"That collar's cut, Maurice?

That collar's cut?

'Cause we might have a cat

that comes up real quick."

The tiger must be given a stimulant.

Slowly he resumes

his normal breathing rate.

"Yeah, he's breathing.

"Yeah, he's breathing.

I think the danger's passed.

Whew, man, that was...

"Yeah."

The biologists must now

take their samples hastily...

before the great beast fully awakens.

They're reluctant

to lose sight of him

before he's safely on his feet -

but also eager not to be in his way.

Now at a safe distance,

the team receives a signal

from the radio collar.

The tiger is up and about...

and on the prowl again.

In another part of the reserve,

the team is concerned about the

signal from a tigress named Olga.

She was the very first

collared with a radio.

Olga, it appears, has remained in

the same area for a long time,

a sign that she may be dead -

or that she has found a den

and given birth.

Dr. Evgeny Smirnov,

Russian tiger specialist,

determines that Olga is, in fact,

moving about her den site.

The researchers decide

they'll attempt to enter the den

to earmark the cubs.

They'll need to wait until night

when the tigress should be

out hunting.

Hopefully, far from home.

"I asked if he thought, uh, it would be dangerous

or we'd, we'd be in trouble if we went there and he said,

'Of course, it'd be dangerous,

there's only one variation there,

to approach when she's not there,

because it's simply too dangerous

to make an approach

with the, the mother present."'

He said, "Thank God",

we have the telemetry equipment to

check on whether or not Olga is there

and so we know, exactly,

when she's left the den site.

Without that it, it'd simply be a,

a su1c1de mission to walk in there.'

The fading radio signal indicates

that Olga has left her den.

But if she returns

she would probably att*ck instantly.

They test flares

they hope would drive Olga off.

Protecting a den is one

of the rare circumstances

when a Siberian will turn man-k*ller.

Night is the time when tigers

are most alert and aggressive.

Their night vision is far superior

to humans.

The signal from Olga - once faint -

is getting louder.

The team must quickly

be in and out of the den.

"Yeah this is it. This is it, Bart."

"Yeah, yeah, we've got the spot.

"Do you see a cat?"

"Yeah."

Gloves soaked with tiger urine

are worn

so the mother will not detect

their intrusion and reject her cubs.

"Get away."

It's a healthy male.

Two months old, the cub already

weighs about 13 pounds.

"Dale, I'm still getting a signal

and it's really not that weak

right now,

we're probably going to

have to hurry, if you can."

Unlike other cats, tiger kittens

never learn to purr.

An ear tag is inserted

for future identification.

They christen the cub Sasha.

"I'm getting a signal,

we're going to have to hurry,

she's back,

she's come back over the ridge."

Their daring has set a new precedent.

For the first time ever,

scientists have examined and

returned a cub to a den in the wild.

In towns and villages throughout

coastal Siberia,

people have learned to live

with the idea of tigers.

But att*cks have happened

and some are afraid.

In the village of Guyvaron,

however, one man is happy to

have tigers in his own backyard.

Maurice Hornocker and Howard Quigley

are working with a Russian biologist

who has two orphaned cubs

in captivity.

"That's a big male tiger."

Victor Yudin has raised the cubs

from infancy.

Victor is the author of a definitive

natural history of the Russian wolf.

But he soon learned that Kuchur, the tiger...

...and Niurka, the tigress,

are different animals indeed.

"To study tigers in captivity

is absolutely necessary,

because many of their biological

traits cannot be learned in the wild.

Comparing the results

of the tiger studies

that were done in captivity

and in the wild

helps us to develop the methods

of how to preserve the tiger

as a species in reserves

like Sikhote-Alin."

The young tigers have

outgrown their cages,

and so, with the support of the

Hornocker Wildlife Institute

an enclosure is built

in the adjacent woods.

Though a far cry from the hundreds

of square miles

a tiger in the wild would roam,

these six acres will provide

the young captives

with the opportunity to run

and hunt

- and hopefully -

even mate and have cubs.

But there are neighbors

in the area.

Victor knows the importance

of keeping them well informed.

Especially now,

when the tigers will soon be turned

loose into the enclosure.

So he brings local school children

to the compound.

"Villagers often come to see

the tigers.

They often ask me:

why keep tigers in this enclosure

since it's so different

from life in the wild?"

"I explain to them

that there are limitations

to what we can and cannot learn

from observing tigers the way we do

in the wild,

by simply following tracks

through the snow.

Afterwards, when people realize

that it's not just for fun,

that it's serious work

they look at me in admiration,

as if I were a superman, I guess."

The day has come

when - for the first time -

the tigers will step into the natural

world they were intended to rule.

No one knows how they will react

to their new enclosure.

For Victor, it's an especially

anxious moment,

for he hopes the enclosure

will be home to these tigers

for the rest of their lives.

The male, Kuchur, steps boldly out.

For the first time...

the light through the trees,

the smell of grass and leaf,

the feel of the soft earth.

Niurka, the female,

is unsure of all this -

and even tries to close the gate.

But soon,

curiosity overcomes caution.

To Yudin's surprise,

Kuchur begins to feel a little frisky

and tries to mate.

But Niurka will have no part of it.

For her, the time has not yet come.

Exhilarated by their freedom,

they soon vanish into

their little private forest.

To feed his feline charges,

Dr. Yudin collects road k*ll.

Victor feels he knows the mood

of his tigers so well

he can risk entering the enclosure.

In the wild, most att*cks

on humans occur

when they inv*de a tiger's territory

or when cubs are threatened.

Unlike Bengal tigers, Siberians

have never been known to hunt man.

As the tigers settle into

their enclosure,

Dr. Yudin begins his observations

and controlled experiments.

He hopes to learn

which behaviors are innate

and which would need to be taught

to c*ptive tigers

before they could be released

into the wild.

Tigers live in a world of feast

or famine.

Still, Kuchur must wait his turn.

Dr. Yudin notices it's the female

who feeds first.

With the coming of fall,

the first brisk winds blow in

from the Siberian Arctic.

As if designed

for these autumn colors,

the tigers blend with the landscape.

In the wild,

their coloration becomes lighter

as winter approaches,

anticipating snow.

Dr. Yudin confronts one more problem

that makes the study

of tiger behavior so difficult.

The tiger is largely

a creature of the dark.

With their extraordinary

night vision,

Kuchur and Niurka come fully alive

only after sunset.

Recently, they've begun to roam

restlessly in the dark.

Victor wonders if night has

awakened an instinctive urge to hunt.

When he releases a small rabbit

in the enclosure,

he quickly learns the answer.

After several weeks,

the tigers have established

their territory in the enclosure.

How would they react to another

of their own species?

Yudin and Hornocker set up

an experiment

involving a full-sized model tiger.

"Okay. A little more."

"I'm interested to see

what you think of this, Victor.

Is that as big as Kuchur?"

"Yes..."

"These will match right up

on the right side.

You got that back there?"

"Yeah, it's good."

"Yeah, that's a good fit.

Okay, let's see what it looks like

standing up."

Victor's dogs are convinced.

They immediately recognize

an arch enemy.

Tigers in the wild are solitary

animals and fiercely territorial.

Is this behavior innate or learned?

And, if innate,

how soon does it develop?

The reaction to an intruder

by the c*ptive-raised tigers

may help provide an answer.

The scale model is covered

with tiger urine,

the scent that establishes territory.

Recordings of tiger calls will be

played into the enclosure.

The stage is set.

Kuchur, the male, is curious.

He spends hours observing

this strange creature.

But by light of day,

Kuchur keeps his distance.

It's only overnight

that the researchers discover

the tigers' real attitude

towards the intruder.

Every shred of color has been ripped

from the model's skin.

Only when the model

no longer looked like a tiger,

did Kuchur leave it alone.

The defense of his territory

is already a powerful instinct.

It was the long Siberian winter

that created the tigers of the snow,

demanding robust size,

padded paws and thick fur.

But it is also winter

when they are hunted,

when they are most easily seen...

this time by a scientist.

"We've had to develop and

evolve all our techniques here.

No one had ever worked

with Siberian tigers before.

So, we utilized foot-snaring

to capture the tiger

and it's worked very successfully.

But, some of them are becoming

very trap-shy,

some of them have become very,

uh, difficult to capture...

So in order to maintain the

continuity of our data collection,

in order to keep track

of certain individuals

we've had to utilize helicopters."

The hunt begins to re-collar

certain tigers.

The information the collars provide

is critical

to understanding the boundaries

required for the tiger's survival.

Their territories are extensive.

Females may range up to

two hundred square miles,

males perhaps five hundred.

Losing contact with a study animal

is their greatest fear.

Each one is precious

to the scientists.

"The collars we put on animals last

about two to two-and-a-half years

and then the batteries,

lithium batteries run out,

so they simply need to be replaced.

Once we've invested two years in

an animal gathering information,

that animal becomes very valuable

to us because it has a history.

And the longer we can maintain

contact with an animal,

the more we learn about

its life-history patterns:

how often it has young,

how long they live,

its whole life history."

The pilot spots something below.

It's a wild boar

running for its life.

And in pursuit a tiger.

Tigers miss most of their prey.

This time the helicopter provides

a distraction, saving the boar.

The tiger is not amused.

Eventually they pick up the strong

signal of another familiar tiger.

It is Olga, mother of the cub

found in the den.

The helicopter quickly searches the

area hoping to spot her cub, Sasha.

And Sasha is there - no longer

a small cub, but thriving well.

The young are raised

by the mother alone.

Sasha will stay with her

for eighteen to twenty months

until it's time to establish

his own home range.

The search continues for Kouza

a young male who has outgrown

his radio collar.

Kouza is just beginning

to mark off his territory

and it's difficult to know

the extent of his range.

Tranquilizing a Siberian tiger

is not an exact science.

The size of the tiger, its mood -

and the placement of the dart can

influence the drug's effectiveness.

Always, out of concern for the tiger,

the team tries to inject

a minimal amount.

After long hours

and much precious fuel,

the tiger is spotted.

In pursuit, the helicopter must fly

very low over dense forest -

a dangerous maneuver.

It's a far cry from hunting

on foot for Bart Schleyer.

"There's usually just a real

narrow opportunity to dart

and sometimes there's a limb

in the way

and there's been a number of times

when I probably could have gotten

a dart into an animal,

but I'm too worried about

a deflection of the dart

and having the, the dart deflect into

a improper placement in the animal

which would injure it,

which we don't want.

So, I'm real, real stressed by trying

to get a proper hit on an animal."

As the tiger moves deeper

into the forest,

the helicopter follows so closely

it almost touches the tree tops.

"The pilots we're using,

I'm real confident in the pilots

because you are operating

real close to tree level

and you just hope that the pilots

can see what's going on,

around behind them particularly

with their back rotor

and particularly the other day when

we were in close on one of the tigers,

there was a conifer tree

that was actually almost butted

right up against the helicopter."

The first sh*t is a clean hit.

They hover patiently waiting for

the tranquilizer to take effect.

But they can't wait too long -

for they're running low on fuel.

Bart fires another dart

into the tiger.

Most big cats need two doses.

And the second one appears to

take effect.

Bart and Rybin Nikolai

must quickly be landed.

This too is a dangerous maneuver.

But they can't leave the tiger

sedated for long.

The pilot is very concerned now.

They must refuel.

He radios Bart to abort the mission.

But Bart insists -

for the tiger's well being -

they must remain below

and finish the job now.

The helicopter races back to refuel.

As they slowly approach the tiger,

their worst fears are realized.

The tiger is up and moving.

The dosage was insufficient.

Still, they must get a closer look

to make sure he's all right.

They proceed with caution

knowing they are intruding

in a fierce young tiger's newly

claimed territory.

Kouza appears groggy

but otherwise all right.

But he's much too dangerous

to follow.

Now they can only await

the helicopter's return.

And hope the young tiger has seen

enough of them.

For now, the tiger has eluded them,

but at least they know

where he can be found.

Eventually, he'll be located

and fitted with a new collar.

At last, they are brought aboard -

to the relative safety of a

helicopter hovering in the tree-tops.

Not long after, they spot a tigress

named Marivana.

She is very aggressive -

and even climbs a tree

to att*ck the helicopter.

She only provides a better target

for Bart Schleyer.

Unlike the larger male, a single dose

sedates the tigress quickly.

"Let's take blood

and that's about it..."

The old collar is measured

against the new one -

which is given an extra notch

for growth.

They carefully monitor

her heart rate and respiration.

"Where's that? 10?"

"That's right..."

Mission accomplished.

The new collar will provide crucial

data for at least another two years.

Not far from the cold,

forbidding wild,

the success of the venture

is celebrated - Russian style!

It's also Bart Schleyer's birthday.

For American and Russian alike

it's a camaraderie born of years of

shared dangers and shared dreams.

At Victor Yudin's compound winter

has transformed the enclosure.

The Siberian winter seems to

invigorate the c*ptive tigers.

This is truly the season of

the Tigers of the Snow.

As Victor Yudin observes,

Kuchur, the male, continues to

stake out his territory,

spraying the trees with his scent.

In what is called a 'flehmen' the

female tests the air for his scent.

Then it's Kuchur's turn to

detect if his mate is in heat...

And she is.

Niurka, the female,

initiates the coupling.

And so the mating period begins.

"If we succeed in getting young cubs

it would be great,

because then we can develop

the best methods

for returning the young tigers

back into the wild.

We'll try to bring them up

in natural conditions

so they will more easily adapt to

joining the wild tiger population

here in the reserve."

As for a successful mating,

all Dr. Yudin can do

is hope for results.

Victor's wife, Lena, has a special

relationship with the tigers.

She's nurtured them

since they were cubs.

When they must be brought in

at night

because of the dangers of poaching,

only their Babushka

can lure them home.

Over the next few days,

the tigers breed often.

Sometimes dozens of times a day.

At last, the breeding ends,

and Niurka moves into her den.

She should give birth

in about a hundred days.

Springtime in Siberia.

Dr. Hornocker receives word from

Victor Yudin

that Niurka has given birth.

But something's wrong.

Victor's observed that the mother

is not taking care of her cubs.

This is not uncommon when

big cats give birth in captivity.

"Does Victor think

she's fed them at all?"

"Probably not."

"Then we better go in and look, Victor."

They isolate the mother, Niurka,

so they can safely approach the den.

One of the cubs is up and about

but looks hungry and unkempt.

The other cub is barely moving and

Victor is clearly concerned.

"How is he?"

"Yeah, oh yeah, the poor little guy."

Suddenly, the cub stops breathing.

Victor rushes it inside

where he will try to revive it.

It appears the mother has neither

groomed nor nursed her cubs

and this one is near death.

With infinite patience,

Victor massages the heart.

Hoping - against all odds -

to bring the cub back to life.

The mortality rate of Siberian tiger

cubs can be up to thirty percent.

With so few born in the wild,

the survival of c*ptive cub

is critical to the species.

One cub is lost,

but her brother - under Victor's

tender nursing - recuperates quickly.

He's named the cub Globus -

for a world that cares about him,

even if his own mother

hasn't learned to.

Eventually Globus will be brought

to the United States

as part of a c*ptive

breeding program.

When he is, he'll be following

other cubs,

orphaned in Siberia and

sent by Dr. Hornocker

to the snows of Omaha, Nebraska.

They're now part of the world's most

successful breeding program

for large predators.

The tigers are bred here

with the goal of returning the cubs

back to the wild.

But what kind of environment

will await them?

Back in Russia,

Dr. Hornocker strives to educate

Siberia's future caretakers.

"If we're to save these big carnivores

as the world population increases,

we must convince

the younger generation

that it's worthwhile

conserving them.

It's always so rewarding to me

and gratifying to see how

children accept this.

They really love these big animals.

They want to save them.

And if we can convince them

that it's in their best interest then

it's to their advantage and to ours."

Soon, much of this magnificent

forest -

the Siberian tiger's last domain -

may be cut down for a world

hungry for lumber.

But the years of difficult and

dangerous study have given birth

to a plan to save the forest...

by saving the tiger in the wild.

Selecting the tiger as the

umbrella species to be saved

means that the forest surrounding

the reserve must also be protected.

But in a land of political

uncertainty,

there are no guarantees.

Poised on the edge of extinction,

the tiger of the snow evokes

an old Russian proverb:

Hope is the last to die.
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