From Amur tiger occurrence in the Greater Khingan Mountains to doing an overall conservation for its in China

This study analyzes the new distribution of the Amur tiger in China after the discovery of the Amur tiger's footprints in the Greater Khingan Mountains region (GKM), where there has been no tiger distribution since the 1960s. In 2022, the year of the tiger in the Chinese calendar, we suggest that an integrated and connected landscape conservation pattern, comprising of GKM, Laoyeling, Zhangguangcailing, Wanda Mountains, and Lesser Khinghan Mountains, should be developed in China. In Greater Khingan Mountains where Amur tigers are thought to have been extinct since the 1960s, an group unusual information of Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) activity was discovered by our wildlife research team, which is a very significant event for current protection pattern planning for the tiger population in China. Combined with the research studies of Wikramanayake et al. and Chen et al. on the doubling of the Amur tiger population and the contributions of protected areas, and according to the biodiversity conservation prospects of China, we further re-explore the overall conservation of the Amur tiger population in Northeast China, including Laoyeling, Zhangguangcailing, Wanda Mountains, Lesser Khinghan Mountains, especially Greater Khingan Mountains, and provide an integrated conservation suggestion for Amur tiger in China. On December 29, 2021, unusual footprints and tracks in the snow at Beijicun National Nature Reserve (BNNR), Greater Khingan Mountains (GKM) were discovered by a wildlife research team from the Wildlife Research Institute of Heilongjiang Province. These tracks were highly suspected to belong to an Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica). Four fecal samples were collected by the tracks, and DNA extraction revealed that they belonged to a female Amur tiger. This discovery provides novel information for Amur tiger conservation in GKM, where no tigers have been recorded since the 1960s. Wikramanayake et al. (2011) and Chen et al. (2022) addressed the importance of landscape conservation, which could double the wild tiger population, and the contributions of protected areas to biodiversity conservation. Based on our new discovery, long-term monitoring datasets, and protected land distribution, we provide novel information and suggest that increasing the amount of conserved landscape and constructing connections between patches could achieve population recovery of Amur tigers. Changes in numbers and distribution ranges of Amur tiger are closely correlated with wildlife conservation policies. From the end of the 19th century, the idea that tigers are distributed across all mountain regions was recognized in northeast China. During the past six decades, extraction of natural resources to eliminate poverty has caused some species to become endangered or extinct. Among them, Amur tigers have become critically endangered because of lower habitat quality and fewer prey resources. The Chinese government banned tiger hunting in 1959 and listed tigers as a national first-class protected animal in 1988 (Ma et al., 1994), but tiger population size has continued to dwindle (Qi et al., 2021). However, there were only 12–16 remaining Amur tigers were found along the border with Russia in 2000 (Qi et al., 2021). Subsequently, a series of forest and wildlife conservation projects, including the National Natural Forest Protection Project, the establishment of Hunchun Amur Tiger National Nature Reserve, and the construction of Northeast Tiger Leopard National Park (NTLNP), were carried out to improve the tigers' habitat and thus their survival. Promisingly, a total 55 wild Amur tigers, including 50 individuals in Laoyeling, but only 1–3 males from Zhangguangcailing (ZGCL), Wanda Mountains (WDM), and Lesser Khinghan Mountains (LKM), were recorded from 2013 to 2018 (Qi et al., 2021). It is likely that that local conservation projects were important to the restoration of Amur tigers; however, there is a serious shortage of invested projects outside of protected lands. Five isolated landscape regions, including LYL, WDM, LKM, and GKM (adjacent to Russia) and ZGCL (the only inland region), constitute the main body of Amur tiger habitat across northeast China. LYL, the only region currently sustaining a breeding population in China, is connected to the southwest Primorye tiger range in Russia and includes Suiyang–Wangquing–Hunchun (14,239 km2), which was listed as being one of 18 identified sited with recovery potential under World Wildlife Fund's Tigers Alive Initiative. WDM is recognized as a key patch where the Sikhote-Alin tiger population disperses into China (Jiang et al., 2014). In addition, breeding tigers were recorded in WDM in 2008. LKM is adjacent to the habitat with a breeding population in the Jewish Autonomous Oblasts of Russia where a tiger reintroduction program has been ongoing since 2013 (Rozhnov et al., 2021). As neglected potential habitat with low human disturbance and abundant prey resources, GKM has not aroused attention since the 1960s because tigers were considered locally extinct. Excitingly, at the end of 2021, a female Amur tiger was discovered in BNNR, and she was not directly related to the LKM subpopulation. ZGCL is an indispensable area connected to LYL, WDM, and LKM. In ZGCL, two tigers immigrating from LYL and WDM were recorded before 2016 (Qi et al., 2021), and one was recorded at the Fengzheng Forest Bureau in November 2021. In 2021, both biodiversity conservation and corridor construction are listed in the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan (FFYP) in China (FFYP, 2021). For Amur tiger conservation, primary restriction factors are likely low prey density in WDM and LKM, and intensive human disturbances by cities and transportation in ZGCL (Qi et al., 2021). The part of GKM in Heilongjiang Province, which as approximately 54,410 km2 of forest area, is a unique region where succession from top conifers to young conifers and mixed broadleaf–conifer forests has promoted biodiversity and species density since the fierce GKM fire in 1987; however, no nature reserves have been established for Amur tigers. However, the subpopulation size of Amur tigers in LYL will outgrow the environmental capacity. Resolving the existing problems is critical to sustaining and facilitating prosperity of Amur tigers. Therefore, based on the FFYP policy and biodiversity conservation prospects, we suggest the following. First, government departments should make an integrated landscape conservation plan with a large capital budget for carrying out anti-poaching measures, protecting prey, and decreasing human disturbances. In particular, a key ecological corridor system for tiger dispersal through LYL, ZGCL, WDS, LKM, and GKM should be established in the future to effectively expand the potential habitat of the Amur tiger (Figure 1). When establishing inter-regional corridors, some core habitats between GKM and LKM should be used to build wildlife-type nature reserves that form stepping stones for connectivity to provide population security. Second, it is urgent for wildlife research institutions to carry out monitoring work to obtain Amur tiger individuals, identify migration paths, conduct habitat evaluation to identify their suitable range, and study the applicability of reintroduction techniques from Russia for tiger conservation in GKM. Finally, although reintroducing orphaned cubs in the Pri-Amur region of Russia has been successful (Rozhnov et al., 2021), reintroduction of large carnivores is often controversial and difficult. We also suggest that an Amur tiger reintroduction project should be conducted in the future if the natural population cannot recover in GKM. Shaochun Zhou conceived the paper. Hong Chen wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Xinxin Liu, Weidong Li, Zidong Zhang, Shaochun Zhou, Hong Chen, and Jiao Yang participated in the field survey of Amur tigers. Dongqi Liu identified the Amur tiger by extracting DNA from fecal matters. The authors thank helps provided by the Beijicun National Nature Reserve, Mohe District Forest and Grass Bureau. Hongyu Dong, Jinxu Liu, and Gang Li are thanked for support during the survey work. And the authors also thank the editor and reviewer for their helpful comments on the manuscript. The authors declare no conflict of interest. The data of Amur tiger appearance points were collected from the long-term field monitoring. If necessary, please contact the corresponding author. The data of Amur tiger appearance points were collected from the long-term field monitoring. If necessary, please contact the corresponding author.