North Korea and Russia are pursuing a joint project to safeguard the critically endangered Korean tiger, known as the Amur tiger. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jun. 18 (Korea Bizwire) – As North Korea and Russia deepen ties across various areas, the two countries are now pursuing a joint project to safeguard the critically endangered Korean tiger, known as the Amur tiger, according to Russian officials.
In comments reported by the state RIA Novosti news agency on June 17, Alexander Kozlov, the Russian minister of natural resources, said Moscow and Pyongyang are discussing a wildlife conservation initiative.
“We have data indicating that the Amur tiger inhabits certain areas of North Korea,” Kozlov stated, though he did not provide an estimate of the population size there.
The Amur tiger, prevalent across the Korean Peninsula until the 1930s, now inhabits Russia’s Far East in the Primorye region near the Amur River as well as parts of northeast China.
The minister’s remarks follow Russia and China operationalizing a cross-border protection area dubbed “The Land of the Great Cats” last month to conserve Amur tigers and Siberian tigers in the border areas of Primorye.
However, Dr. Bernhard Seliger of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, a German research institute, told NK News, a website monitoring North Korea, that it was “improbable” the Amur tiger still exists in the country. He suggested Russia may want to attempt reintroducing the species.
But he cautioned that North Korea lacks sufficient populations of wild deer and free-ranging cattle to sustain the big predators. Viable habitat is limited to mountainous areas like Baekdusan and Ogasan with contiguous forest cover vital for the tigers, Seliger said.
Experts estimate fewer than 100 Amur tigers remain in the wild worldwide. As Russia seeks to overcome Western sanctions over Ukraine, expanded cooperation with North Korea spans security matters like missile technology trade as well as economic, social and cultural engagement.
In one recent move, Moscow Zoo agreed earlier this year to donate 40 animals including eagles, snakes and parrots to the Central Zoo in Pyongyang. Speculation is mounting that President Vladimir Putin may visit North Korea this week after holding a summit with Kim Jong-un in Russia’s Far East in September.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
