Title
Camera-trap monitoring of Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) in southwest Primorsky Krai, 2013–2016: preliminary results
Author(s)
Matiukhina, Dina S. ;Vitkalova, , Anna V. ;Rybin, Alexander N. ;Aramilev, Vladimir V. ;Shevtsova, , Elena I. ;Miquelle, , Dale G.
Published
2016
Publisher
Nature Conservation Research
Abstract
Southwest Primorsky Krai retains the sole remaining population of critically endangered Amur leopards, but and
also holds an isolated population of Amur tigers. This small group of tigers plays a key role as a core breeding
population for potential Amur tiger recovery in neighboring Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces of Northeast China.
A large scale camera-trap monitoring program initiated by the United Administration of the State Nature Biosphere
Reserve Kedrovaya Pad and Land of the Leopard National Park in 2013 provides a more precise means of tracking
dynamics of animals’ abundance than previous snow-track counts and is to act «early warning system» in a case of
dramatic decreases in tiger numbers. Surveys were conducted over three years, beginning in August 2013 and ending
in July 2016. During each survey year, we planned to select a survey period of no more than 92 days when no
less than 80% of camera-trap stations were active. However, as the camera-trap stations were not simultaneously
deployed and checked during the last year (2015–2016), using the 80% cut point substantially was not feasible, so
we lowered the limit to 55%. To estimate detection rates for adults, we used only those animals that were present
in a given year both before and after the survey period, with the assumption that if a tiger were present both before
and after, most likely it was present during the survey period as well. From the 320 photographic captures obtained
over three years we identified 39 adult Amur tigers and 22 cubs. Among them only seven adult individuals (18%)
were captured in all three years, while sixteen adult individuals (41%) were captured only in one of the three years;
the rest (41%) were captured in two of the three years. Females demonstrate greater fidelity, and a greater likelihood
or being present in all three years. Tigers were more frequently captured during the cold season from October to
March with the peak numbers recorded in December. However, there were only ten instances in which adult/subadult
tigers were photographed both before and after the survey period in all years combined. Of those, in only six
instances (60%) tigers also photographed during the survey period, suggesting a relatively low detection probability.
However detection of cubs was even lower: twenty-two cubs were photographed during the three years of the study
but only three (14%) were photographed during the three survey periods. These results suggest that capture rates
of cubs are much lower than those of adults/subadults reaffirming recommendations to not include cubs in formal
population abundance estimates.
Keywords
Amur tiger;camera-trapping;detection rate;Land of the Leopard National Park;southwest Primorsky Krai
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