Bee reserve stings planned tiger reserve(2)

Meanwhile, Russia finished the construction of the state-level Siberian tiger reserve within its territory in 2012 and has urged China to build the reserve in the eastern Wanda Mountains so as to boost the construction of the cross-border passage for the Siberian tigers.

Ma Jianzhang, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) who does research on wild animals, said the environment of the region where the planned Siberian tiger reserve will be located offers the most favorable habitat for wild Siberian tigers in China.

Research shows that about five to seven wild Siberian tigers living in the area have close relationships with the 350 Siberian tigers in Russia, Ma said.

Once the cross-border eco-passage for the wild Siberian tigers is built, many problems concerning the Siberian tiger could be solved, such as the tigers' food shortage in Russia, according to Ma.

Meanwhile, mating between Siberian tigers from both countries will boost the endangered species' population and improve their genes, he added.

Wei Diansheng, director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Forest Industry Bureau, also called for the Siberian tiger reserve to be built immediately

But wildlife protection experts have yet to figure out a way for the black bee and the Siberian tiger reserves to harmoniously coexist.

Siberian tigers, otherwise known as Amur or Manchurian tigers, mainly live in eastern Russia, northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

Only about 500 currently live in the wild, with about 12 in Heilongjiang Province and eight to ten in neighboring Jilin Province.