World Wildlife Fund

Vladivostok, Russia--Today the Russian Government created a new national park that is habitat for the endangered Siberian tiger in the country’s Far Eastern region after six years of research and negotiation by World Wildlife Fund. Roughly the size of Rhode Island, Anyuiskii National Park—1562.5 square miles--is the largest of three protected areas established by the Russian government in 2007. 

“Anyuiskii Park is a critical piece of the puzzle for tigers in the Russia’s Far East,” said Dr. Darron Collins, WWF’s Managing Director for the Amur-Heilong. “A core zone of protection in the north, it’s part of a large ‘network’ for tigers that WWF has championed for more than a decade.”

The park includes some of the most pristine forest in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range along the right bank of the Amur River, the Eastern Hemisphere’s longest undammed river.  These mountains were the setting for Vladamir Aresniev’s Dersu the Trapper and the 1975 film by Akira Kurosawa based on the book Dersu Uzala.

“Tigers occupy about two-thirds of the new park,” said Dr. Yuri Darman, WWF’s Russian Far East director based in Vladivostok, Russia.  “We’ve estimated that five to seven tigers live and will now be protected by Anyuiskii.”

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About World Wildlife Fund

For more than 45 years, WWF has been protecting the future of nature. The largest multinational conservation organization in the world, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. WWF's unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level, from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature. Go to worldwildlife.org to learn more.