MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) of Russia intends to breed Far Eastern leopards, conserve sea otters and bowhead whales, and release Amur tigers in Kazakhstan in the next five years, the fund’s press service told TASS on the occasion of its 28 years of work in Russia, celebrated on Friday.
"Every five years we approve a new conservation strategy that lays out the priorities and tasks for the coming years. It is important for us to focus our efforts on those areas that will maximize wildlife conservation. As in the past five years, together with our partners we will continue to work on the conservation of rare animal species, including the Amur tiger, the snow leopard, the bison, Persian and Far Eastern leopards, the Saiga Antelope, wild reindeers, polar bears, walruses and others. Now our strategy will include several new species, such as the sea otter and the bowhead whale. One of the new directions is also conservation of fresh water ecosystems," the press service quoted WWF Russia director Dmitry Gorshkov as saying.
One of the new tasks is conservation of the bowhead whale population of the Okhotomorsk Sea. It is the most southern population in the world and it is very vulnerable: it has no more than 300-400 mammals. By 2027, WWF Russia plans to find out what happens to the whales’ population and where they winter, to preserve their key habitats, and to implement measures to reduce the main threats. Sea otters were also previously not in the fund's strategy, but their population on the Kuril and Commander islands is decreasing. The exact reasons for this are not yet known. The Fund will contribute to the preservation of the key habitats and organize the monitoring of sea otters together with the locals.
"Over the next five years, WWF, together with the Lazovsky Nature Reserve and its partners, will start restoring the leopard population in the southern Sikhote-Alin. WWF is currently building a reintroduction center for the Amur leopard based in the Lazovsky Nature Reserve. The Amur leopards lived here until the 1980s, and later disappeared due to industrial development. When the center is completed, leopards from zoos will be brought here and their breeding will begin, and then the cubs, previously raised at the center, will be released into the wild. By mid-2027 at least four animals are expected to be released in the Lazovsky Reserve. In the future, a second core population should be formed here. Now all the leopards live in the Land of the Leopard National Park and in the neighboring areas," the press service added.
Tigers vanished in Kazakhstan more than 70 years ago, and now WWF is working with the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan and its partners to restore the animal’s population. Over the next five years, WWF plans to bring the first tigers into the country and release them in the Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve. Over the next three years, the number of ungulates needs to increase to provide food for the predator.
During the 28 years of its work in Russia, WWF has contributed to the implementation of over 1,500 field projects and supported the establishment and expansion of more than 145 protected areas in Russia. This Russian natural conservation organization unites over 1.5 million supporters across the country.