National Geographic: Tigers of the Snow

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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 threat.

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 crack

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

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