"Wandashan No. 1" himself did not expect to be able to set off such a big movement.
On April 23, it quietly appeared in a village in Jixi, Heilongjiang, and was later discovered by villagers.
People were running, shouting, someone was driving a vehicle to honk its horn, it was roaring low to express its dissatisfaction, and no one cared.
It knocked down a woman, smashed the car and the glass of her hometown, but had nowhere to hide.
Then the media came, and so did the drone, circling above its head, and after the people were rounded up, it was shot three times by anesthesia guns.
It stood up and tried to run, and the gun went off twice, and it fell.
Wandashan No. 1 is a male Siberian tiger weighing about 2-3 years old and weighing 225 kilograms, who was knocked down by anesthesia gun and sent to the Mudanjiang Hengdao hezi Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Heilongjiang Province.
It is understood that it will be under quarantine observation for 45 days here.
In just a few days, a lot of things happened, the woman who was thrown down was treated, there was no danger to her life, and the villagers who saved people also got a reward of 20,000 yuan.
On April 26, the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Heilongjiang Province said through a press conference:
"The appearance of Wandashan No. 1 in Mishan fully shows that the ecological environment of Heilongjiang Province is getting better and better, and it is more and more suitable for the Northeast tiger and leopard to inhabit and breed here."
Its own appearance can represent the ecological improvement of a region, which is unthinkable by Wandashan No. 1.
( CCTV News Video Screenshot)
Ecology is getting better? Don't rush to conclusions
Song Dazhao, head of the China Feline Protection Alliance, told China News Weekly that the appearance of wild Siberian tigers in human gathering places does not mean that the ecological environment is getting better and better, in fact, it may be the opposite, it is precisely because the ecology is not suitable for their survival that they have intruded into the human living environment.
Song Dazhao analyzed that the tiger is a very vigilant, good at hiding its own cats, in the long years, the tiger gradually declined, their number in the wild is now only more than 3,000, less than the weekend in a Chinese third-tier city in the big shopping mall traffic.
Therefore, a normal and healthy wild tiger will avoid humans and avoid conflict with humans, which is its instinct.
But tigers can't avoid encountering humans, because some of the tiger's habits determine this. Tiger territory is so large that today there is almost no such large uninhabited tiger habitat.
The russian female Siberian tiger has a home area of 224-414 square kilometers, while the male tiger has an area of 800-1000 square kilometers. Even an adult tiger that has established a territory can hardly not encounter humans when it moves on such a large area.
In this regard, Zhou Haixiang, a member of the Expert Advisory Committee on Man and the Biosphere of the People's Republic of China, told China News Weekly that Wandashan No. 1 was most likely imported from Russia on the west side of Xingkai Lake, where the border line has only a simple barbed wire fence, and there have been many signs of tiger infestation over the years, and it is likely that it followed the prey through the barbed wire into China's border.
"In 2011, there were 7 signs of wild Siberian tigers in that location, and then people found a Siberian tiger that was killed by a lasso, and I ran all over the points that appeared, and I speculated that this tiger also entered northeast China on that path."
"When the tiger came over, he found that there was not only a shortage of food, but also villages, people, and cars that frightened him. The passage to the north into Wandashan is blocked by the closed highway, because the mountainous environment in northeast China has been divided by the highway grid, and at the beginning of construction, it was not considered to leave a passage for wild animals, even if there was a Siberian tiger in a certain area before the highway was closed, the fate after the closure was basically killed by hunting, or the old man died, and he did not have the conditions to reproduce. Zhou Haixiang said.
"It is impossible to infer that wild tigers appear because the ecology has improved."
Song Dazhao agreed with Zhou Haixiang that "Wandashan 1 is unlikely to be a tiger that has established territory, and their territory usually stops at areas of intensive human activity." ”
Song Dazhao believes: "It is largely a wild Siberian tiger that has recently entered China and is trying to acquire Chinese nationality. ”
Judging from the official data released in the later period, Wandashan No. 1 is not an elderly Siberian tiger that cannot survive in the wild from age to size, walking and running are normal, it may be that the livestock in the village attracted its attention, and it originally wanted to choose to hide during the day and leave at night.
(Wandashan 1 was anesthetized and loaded onto a truck.) Picture/Video Screenshot)
Unexpectedly, it was discovered.
What happened next was far beyond a tiger's control.
From the moment you find the tiger, you do a lot of things wrong later
Like the melon-eating masses, Shen Zhijun, director of Nanjing Hongshan Zoo, has also been paying close attention to Wandashan No. 1 for the past two days. Speaking of this incident, he seemed a little distressed.
"Wrong, all wrong, from the moment we found the tiger, the back is all wrong, we humans should not be so arrogant." 」
The media's wanton follow-up, high-profile live broadcast, drones circling in the sky, these will make wild tigers have a huge stress response, "the appearance of wild tigers itself is a good thing, whether it is a better environment, at least to prove the existence of wild populations, but the media so wantonly stirred up, so that many people who watch the hilarity think that it is tigers that have invaded human territory, it should not exist." The idea of humans and wildlife living in harmony disappeared in an instant. Shen Zhijun said.
"After attacking people and cars, it did not choose to bite and entangle but continued to leave, which just shows that it is a wild tiger rather than an artificial tiger, and its state is a panicked, frightened stress response, and from its state, it is far more afraid than the villagers." Zhou Haixiang said.
In Shen Zhijun's view, when wild Siberian tigers appear in human gathering places, the best way should be to evacuate the crowd, ensure that they will not be expelled after a human-tiger conflict or undergo the next step of examination after anesthesia by effective means.
But in fact, through the video reports of many media on the scene, the scene can be described as chaotic, in the live broadcast of some media, frequent brushing out of the "it hurts people, or kill it" such remarks, seeing such a scene, let Shen Zhijun sad.
(The media tracked tigers with drones.) Picture/TikTok screenshot)
Eventually, Gundarshan No. 1 curled up in the grass behind the abandoned house, and even after being hit by anesthesia gun, it still roared out of the grass and immediately retreated into the grass.
"The tiger's fear is not manifested by curling up, shivering, or running out of control, it will try to dodge and leave, but the people who are also overwhelmed on the scene do not give it this opportunity." Song Dazhao said.
In Song Dazhao's view, fortunately, after nearly a day of confrontation, the final shot at the tiger was not a bullet but a few anesthetic needles, "After missing the early cold treatment window, capturing the tiger has become the best solution, better than a shot to kill." ”
However, the carnival-like media live broadcast, the close shooting and tracking without considering the safety distance, everywhere reveals the perfect space for professionalism, mechanism and process in dealing with similar events.
The next thing people saw was a video of it waking up in its cage, still roaring with rage, its right eye bloodshot and looking very uneasy.
(Video screenshot)
Before it was named "Wandasan No. 1", its online name was "Breaking Into the Village Biting Tiger".
In fact, it didn't bite anyone but the car tire, it just knocked a woman down.
After 45 days, will it still be able to go?
At a press conference on April 26, the Heilongjiang Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau said that Wandashan No. 1 will enter a completely closed isolation state, and the animal inspection and quarantine department will conduct a 45-day quarantine observation of the tiger, and do a good job of recording and observing the tiger's daily diet, defecation, roaring and other behaviors.
Faced with the question of whether it will be wild, the official reply is yes.
(1 Wandashan in quarantine.) Picture/Video Screenshot)
"Why 45 days? I don't understand. Like many netizens, Shen Zhijun expressed his incomprehension to China News Weekly.
"The purpose of the rescue is to return it to the wild, comprehensive inspection, comprehensive assessment should be released in time, while saying that the tiger's health is no problem, while staying for 45 days, the longer it is kept in captivity, the more unfavorable it will be for it to return to the wild in the future." Shen Zhijun said.
Regarding the 45-day isolation period, Liu Dan, chief engineer of the China Cat Breeding and Breeding Center responsible for the rescue of Wandashan No. 1, explained to the media that such an action is because the content of the quarantine includes highly pathogenic avian influenza, rabies, cat distemper, parasites and other tests, so it needs to be isolated for 45 days.
"45 days, too long, the longer it is raised, the wild animal will have a sense of trust and hatred for humans that should not be felt, which will change the behavior habits of wild tigers and perhaps make it more daring to get closer to humans."
"Each living individual has a special ecological value to the environment, not to mention the tiger, the top of the food chain, it belongs only to nature, the current species on the earth is decreasing, the ecological chain is very fragile, rescue and release of these wild animals is to restore the fragile ecosystem."
"We save a night heron, spotted dove will be released, some time ago our zoo successively released forest eagles, eagle owl such birds of prey, the zoo showed such rare species is very eye-catching, but we did not do this, we assessed their survival in the wild, quickly released into the wild." Why does it take 45 days for a tiger? Shen Zhijun was full of incomprehension.
In this regard, Chen Yuelong, technical director of the Wildlife Shelter and Rescue Center of Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo, told China News Weekly that he has carried out animal rescue work for many years, and after rescue, it is generally a process of "physical examination, observation, treatment, rehabilitation, physical examination assessment, and release", and wild animal rescue will generally be released as soon as possible when the release requirements are met in principle.
Song Dazhao told China News Weekly about the wild release of tigers, many people will have a worry, it has hurt people, so after returning to the wild, will it continue to attack humans?
"Except in rare cases, most tigers that have attacked people have not shown the characteristics of attacking people," and the aggressive behavior produced by this tiger in the secret mountain is completely inconsistent with the needs of piranha tiger hunting, and as to whether it will attack people in the future, it can be expected that if it is disturbed by humans again, it will still make similar attacks." Song Dazhao said.
For the 45-day deadline, Zhou Haixiang is also puzzled, "This length of time will increase the possibility of tigers attacking people in the future, when it establishes the concept that people are equal to food, it may take a different approach when it returns to the wild and encounters people." ”
"As long as the rescue feeding method is scientific, even if it is kept in captivity for 45 days, the possibility of the release of Wandashan No. 1 is still very large, and it will not depend on people, but this is also related to the rescue feeding method, which should be isolated as much as possible, not allowing it to see the staff, food is provided as covertly as possible, and it is not allowed to establish a connection between people and food." Chen Yuelong said.
In the April 27 CCTV "News 1+1" program, Bao Weidong, associate professor of zoology at the School of Biological Sciences and Technology of Beijing Forestry University, expressed his views: "It was rescued from the wild and was very uncomfortable with the living environment and isolation state. When you first come, you must take some countermeasures to suppress its so-called stress response, put it in an isolated environment, do not let it see people, do not let it smell human breath, so that it is psychologically stable, so now after the rescue comes back, put it in a relatively closed isolation state, the future does not rule out that it will be put into a larger area of similar wild environment, but also to maintain a relatively isolated state, which is also to prepare for wild release. ”
In Song Dazhao's view, the eventual release of Wandashan No. 1 into a protected area or forest farm with a better environment and no currently settled adult tigers of the same sex seems to be the only feasible solution.
Siberian Tiger Forest Park has mature experience in tiger breeding and disease detection, and after pathogen detection and physical testing of this tiger, an evaluation report that can be published should be proposed, and the conclusions should be scientifically based.
There is a point of view analysis, 45 days, Wandashan No. 1 will be mated with captive female tigers to complete the population expansion, at present, the Heilongjiang Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau and the Northeast Tiger Forest Park have not given an official notice on this point of view, through official notification and statement, no such behavior has been found.
For this view, Song Dazhao said, "The tigers in the Siberian Tiger Forest Park are not bad in terms of genetic diversity, so I don't think it is necessary to introduce wild tigers to solve the problem of lack of genetic diversity." If it is used for artificial breeding, it puts the cart before the horse and completely loses its protective significance. ”
In Zhou Haixiang's view, "captive tigers and wild tigers are currently two parallel lines that do not intersect, and captive tigers are basically impossible to be wild, which has no benefits for the protection and expansion of wild populations." ”
"Our country now has enough captive tigers and brings huge economic investment, but it is difficult to determine how much value such investment is."
"Because it cannot be opened in the market, captive tigers can only travel a route to travel, and the economic returns that can be exchanged are very limited, but if the market for tiger products is opened, then poaching without cost will be more rampant."
"For whatever reason, 1 Wandashan should go back into the wild. Even if it does have to be quarantined for 45 days, it should eventually go back. Song Dazhao said.
As conservation strengthens, tiger populations are expected to grow. As more and more tigers take the step of finding territory, how to coexist with tigers will become a problem that residents of tiger distribution areas must face. Early warning mechanisms, rescue mechanisms, and prevention mechanisms should all be established.
After all, "Wandashan 1" is not the first tiger to break into our lives, nor will it be the last.