First Siberian tiger spotted in China's planted forest

Cattle being mauled to death and farmers reporting distinctive roars are among the signs that have got Chinese scientists and officials excited about a possible growth in the population of endangered tigers in the country.

Forestry authorities in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang have for the first time found traces of a Siberian tiger in a planted forest zone, suggesting that the rare big cats roaming along the China-Russian border have begun to migrate into new forests inland.

Administration of the Linkou Forest Zone, covering 273,000 hectares in east Heilongjiang, received a report on Sept. 20 from farmer Wei Guang that three of his cattle had gone missing and another two had been badly mauled.

"I heard roars in the mountain days before but didn't pay much attention. Only after my cattle went missing did I realize it was a serious issue and report the case," Wei said.

The beast appears to have struck again a day after, killing two goats at another farm. Experts later confirmed it was a Siberian tiger by analyzing footprints at Wei's farm. It marked the first time that the forest zone, established in 1963, found traces of this rare animal.

Fewer than 500 Siberian tigers remain in the wild, mainly in eastern Russia, northeast China and northern parts of the Korean Peninsula. China puts its own number of wild Siberian tigers between 18 and 22, mostly living in the border areas.

Sun Haiyi, an expert on Siberian tigers with the Forestry Academy of Heilongjiang, praised the effect of the planted forests, which link up wild forests and serve as migration channels for wild tigers.

Local forestry official Zhang Shusen said the discovery also suggested increasing Siberian tigers population in the border areas.

"As the border area can no longer accommodate the growing tiger population, more Siberian tigers are migrating to the inland as a result of habitat contention," Zhang said.