Dale Miquelle

Wildlife Conservation Society | WCS · Russia Program

The regular issue 8(4) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: https://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/46. The cover page shows Momotus mexicanus Swainson, 1827 (Aves: Coraciiformes: Momotidae) in the Communal Natural Protected Area El Gavilán, Oaxaca state, Mexico (A...

This data file includes the list of articles previously published in the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (https://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/). All articles are grouped by the research thematic. As an explanation of each article, a brief (one sentence) description is provided by highlighting its contents. The Archive of the journal is availa...

The regular issue 8(3) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/45. The cover shows rocky outcrops on the Malaya Bakhilova Mount, as a habitat of the relic species, Chrysolina roddi (Jakobson, 1897) (Coleoptera) (Author: PhD S.V....

The regular issue 8(2) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/44. The cover shows Cuora bourreti (Obst & Reimann, 1994) in the Bach Ma National Park, Vietnam (Author: Benjamin Leprince). This issue of the journal “Nature Conserv...

The book is the first analyses of the Far Eastern leopard camera trap monitoring data collected by the Department of Science and Monitoring of the FSBI Land of the Leopard with the participation of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Amur branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Russia). The monitoring network, which includes appro...

The regular issue 8(1) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/43. The cover shows Saguinus leucopus, Silvery-brown tamarin, a Vulnerable and endemic species in the Peasant Reserve Zone-Cimitarra River, middle Magdalena Valley, C...

We re-assessed tigers Panthera tigris for the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM, classifying them as Endangered based on an estimated decline of >50% over 3 generations (21–30 years), with an estimated 4,485 (3,726–5,578) tigers in the wild. However, data suggest that the population is likely stabilizing or even increasing in some places - a co...

The regular issue 6(4) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released today. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/42. The cover shows calve of Procarpa gutturosa Pallas, 1777 (Bovidae) in the buffer zone of the Daursky State Nature Reserve, Russia (Author: Dr. Galina S. Ale...

The regular issue 7(3) of the journal “Nature Conservation Research” (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/41. The cover shows Orchis canariensis (Orchidaceae) from la Caldera de los Marteles, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain (Author: Dr. Jacopo Calevo). This issue of t...

Tiger Panthera tigris has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2021. Panthera tigris is listed as Endangered under criteria A2abcd.

The regular issue 7(2) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/40. The cover shows staminate flowers of Baccharis macrophylla (Asteraceae) from the high altitude grasslands in the Itatiaia National Park, Rio de Janeiro, Southeast...

The special issue 7(Suppl.1) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/39. This issue is entitled “Biodiversity Informatics for Protected Areas” by containing papers based on biodiversity data management methods and (or) methods for consolidated data...

The regular issue 7(1) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/38. The cover shows the male Urothemis edwardsii (Selys, 1849) in the National Park of El Kala, Algeria (Author: Dr. Rassim Khelifa). This issue of the journal "Natur...

The regular issue 6(4) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/37. The cover shows the female wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) in the buffer zone of the Daursky State Nature Biosphere Reserve, Russia (Author: Sergey Vysotin). Th...

With most large carnivore populations and habitats suffering massive declines across the world, efforts to restore their populations in the wild are of high conservation priority. China attaches great importance to protecting Amur tigers and has made considerable progress towards this goal, but most efforts have been focused on the single Laoyeling...

The regular issue 6(3) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/36. The cover shows two male Blood pheasants (Ithaginis cruentus Hardwicke, 1821) on the alpine rocky-cliffs of Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (India) (Authors: Bi...

The regular issue 6(2) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/35. The cover shows cubs of brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1867) feeding by sockeye salmon, South Kamchatka (Photo: PhD Sergey A. Kolchin). This issue of the jour...

The special issue 6(Suppl.1) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/33. This issue is entitled "Protected Areas in the Green Belt of Fennoscandia" being devoted to the anniversary of the Kostomuksha State Nature Reserve. The cover shows the wild r...

The regular issue 6(1) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released today. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/34. The cover shows Pelias kaznakovi (Nikolsky, 1909) in Sochi National Park (Russia) (Photo: Dr.Sc. Boris S. Tuniyev). This issue of the journal "Nature Conser...

Species conservation can be improved by knowledge of evolutionary and genetic history. Tigers are among the most charismatic of endangered species and garner significant conservation attention. However, their evolutionary history and genomic variation remains poorly known, especially for Indian tigers. With 70% of the worlds wild tigers living in I...

In populations of wild felids, social status is one of the most important factors shaping home range size and spacing patterns. For female Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), we documented significant changes to the structure of home ranges and core areas during cub-rearing. We used VHF telemetry data collected over 18 years in Sikhote-Alin Bios...

This issue of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" contains articles devoted to varous taxonomic groups of plants and animals in Europe, Asia and Africa. It includes research articles devoted to study vascular plants, inveterbrates, mammals, and phenological observations of nature. Some insect groups (Diptera, Hymenoptera) were studied in Pro...

The special issue 5(Suppl.2) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/31. This issue is entitled "PARASITOLOGICAL STUDIES IN PROTECTED AREAS". The cover shows the brook Da Brout in the Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam (Photo: Irina I. Semenyuk, Russi...

The special issue 5(Suppl.1) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/30. This issue is entitled as "ORCHID CONSERVATION". The cover shows Calypso bulbosa L. in spruce-pine forest with a dominant green moss layer (Leningrad region, Russia) (Photo: D...

Translocation of wildlife as a means of reintroducing or reinforcing threatened populations is an important conservation tool but carries health risks for the translocated animals and their progeny, as well as wildlife, domestic animals and humans in the release area. Disease risk analyses (DRA) are used to identify, prioritise and design mitigatio...

The regular issue 4(4) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released today. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/17. The cover shows Ursus arctos in the Central Forest State Nature Biosphere Reserve (Russia) (photo taken by a camera trap; provided by Sergey S. Ogurtsov). T...

Теоретические и эмпирические исследования показывают, что распределение хищников в значительной степени определяется доступностью основных видов жертв. Доступность зависит не только от плотности населения животных, но также от их уязвимости, на которую влияет конфигурация атрибутов ландшафта, увеличивающих шанс удачной охоты для хищника. Остается п...

The persistence of wildlife populations largely depends on females successfully rearing young through the earliest, most vulnerable period. During this period, mothers must balance the costs of home range maintenance, food acquisition, and protection of cubs. We monitored a GPS-collared Amur tigress Panthera tigris altaica for 4 months prior to and...

The regular issue 4(3) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released today. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/16. The cover shows Cervus elaphus xanthopygus in the State Nature Reserve «Bolshekhekhtsirskiy» (Russia) (photo taken by a camera trap; provided by Dr. Rimma S...

The special issue 4(Suppl.1) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released today. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/24. This issue is entitled as "Wildfire management and wildfire impact on biodiversity in Protected Areas". The cover shows evidence of the wildfire in th...

The special issue 4(Suppl.2) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released today. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/25. This issue is entitled as "Conservation of equid taxa". The cover shows Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii Poliakov, 1881) in the Pre-Urals...

The regular issue 4(2) of the journal "Nature Conservation Research" (http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/) has been released today. It is stored here: http://ncr-journal.bear-land.org/journal/15. The cover shows Colchicum ancyrense in the Karadag State Nature Reserve (Crimea) (author: Dr. A.V. Fateryga). This issue of the journal "Nature Conservation...

During the years 1992–2013, we studied the relationship between Amur tigers and brown and Asiatic black bears in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve and surrounding areas in the southern part of the Russian Far East. To determine the importance of bears in the diet of tigers, 763 kills were located and identified, and 430 tiger scat samples were collec...

The critically endangered population of Far Eastern leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis) may number as few as 60 individuals and is at risk from stochastic processes such as infectious disease. During May 2015, a case of canine distemper virus (CDV) was diagnosed in a wild leopard exhibiting severe neurologic disease in the Russian territory of Pr...

We comment on five aspects of Gray et al.’s (Biodivers Conserv, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1365-1, 2017a) framework for assessing the readiness of sites for tiger reintroductions. Clarifications in numbers of tigers, available habitat and prey requirements indicate that more land and additional recovery of preferred prey species will be cri...

No other species attracts more international resources, public attention, and protracted controversies over its intraspecific taxonomy than the tiger (Panthera tigris) [1, 2]. Today, fewer than 4,000 free-ranging tigers survive, covering only 7% of their historical range, and debates persist over whether they comprise six, five, or two subspecies [...

Political borders and natural boundaries of wildlife populations seldom coincide, often to the detriment of conservation objectives. Transnational monitoring of endangered carnivores is rare, but is necessary for accurate population monitoring and coordinated conservation policies. We investigate the benefits of collaboratively monitoring the abund...

Amur, or Far Eastern leopards Panthera pardus orientalis, rarely come into captivity, but in 2015, two animals were brought to the TRNGO Rehabilitation Centre in the Rus- sian Far East. One animal was confirmed to have canine distemper, the first such doc- umentation for this subspecies in the wild, and was eventually euthanised. Analyses of archiv...

During 1992–2013 we studied the relationship between Amur tigers and brown and Asiatic black bears in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve and surrounding areas in the southern Russian Far East. To determine the importance of bears in the diet of tigers, 763 kills were located and identified, and 430 tiger scat samples were collected and analyzed. To de...

Humans have been involved in efforts to manage wildlife populations for centuries.

Conservation and management planning of tigers and prey species requires basic information on the spatial distribution at regional and landscape levels, at an appropriate scale (Karanth and Nichols 2000).

Early naturalists recorded descriptive accounts of tigers in tropical Asia during the past two to three centuries (Karanth 2001).

From these histories, capture frequency statistics and estimates of capture probabilities can be derived.

The role of the Siberian musk deer in the diets of the Amur tiger, brown bear, and Asian black bear has been studied in the Sikhote-Alin State Biosphere Reserve in 1992 to 2016. Information has been collected from 763 tiger feeding sites, and the contents of tiger feces have been analyzed. Radiotelemetry has been used to evaluate tiger–musk deer re...

The Siberian musk deer Moschus moschiferus , categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, is a small ungulate associated with coniferous forests of East Asia. In Russia the species is hunted both legally and illegally for the commercially valuable musk gland in males. Steep population declines recorded in recent decades have been generally attri...

The Russian Far East is characterized by high biological diversity and a large number of mammals, including many rare species such as the Amur tiger Panthera tigris altaica Temminck, 1844, the Far Eastern leopard P. pardus orientalis (Schlegel, 1857), the brown bear Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758, and the Asiatic black bear U. thibetanus G. Cuvier, 18...

The geographic distribution and habitat association of most mammalian polymorphic phenotypes are still poorly known, hampering assessments of their adaptive significance. Even in the case of the black panther, an iconic melanistic variant of the leopard (Panthera pardus), no map exists describing its distribution. We constructed a large database of...

Panthera pardus location records used in the present study. (PDF)

Environmental predictors used in the initial analysis and selected with Pearson's test (in red). (PDF)

Base map for the CSR test. (PDF)

New distributional map for Panthera pardus. Location records comprising our full database are indicated, and overlaid on the present IUCN range map along with additional areas of occurrence documented in this study. Subspecies partitions proposed by Uphyrkina et al. (2001) are also indicated, including summaries of the number records of each colora...

Response curves observed in the Maxent analysis for each environmental predictor used to construct the non-melanistic (control) model. (PDF)

Response curves observed in the Maxent analysis for each environmental predictor used to construct the melanistic model. (PDF)

Graphs depicting the results of the suitability test comparing the melanistic and non-melanistic models across all the location records in our database (p<0.001). Mean suitability in the non-melanistic model = 0.594 (standard deviation = 0.167); mean suitability in the melanistic model = 0.192 (standard deviation = 0.280). (PDF)

In-depth analysis of environmental variables and their relationship with melanism in leopards. The top three graphs (panel A) depict the relationships between the two variables identified as having differential effects on the two phenotypes (see S6 Fig), as well as their relationship with a measure of cover (vegetation index NDVI). For each graph,...

Detailed maps showing the geographic distribution of records comprising our database of melanistic and non-melanistic leopards, overlaid on the terrestrial biomes (based on Olson et al. 2001). Each major geographic region representing a leopard subspecies is shown in a separate panel. (PDF)

Detailed assessment of the 12 bioclimatic predictors selected for inclusion in the Maxent modeling of the two coloration phenotypes, after removing the variables showing the most correlation relative to all others (see Methods). A) Relative importance of each variable for modeling habitat suitability, depicted separately for three geographic scales...

In fall 2015 researchers from Beijing Normal University BNU China and Land of the Leopard National Park LLNP in the Russian Far East signed a collaborative agreement for transboundary cooperation in surveys and research of the Amur tiger Pan-thera tigris altaica and Amur leopard Panthera pardus orientalis. During this meeting , camera trap database...

The Amur tiger Panthera tigris altaica is endangered throughout its range. Estimating abundance to monitor population trends is needed to judge success of conservation efforts. However, low densities and elusive behavior make precise estimates difficult to achieve. Managers must employ sampling methods that maximize precision while remaining feasib...

Background There are three main dietary groups in mammals: carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores. Currently, there is limited comparative genomics insight into the evolution of dietary specializations in mammals. Due to recent advances in sequencing technologies, we were able to perform in-depth whole genome analyses of representatives of these thr...

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...

We collected 69 ticks from nine, free-ranging Amur tigers ( Panthera tigris altaica) between 2002 and 2011 and investigated them for tick-borne pathogens. DNA was extracted using alkaline digestion and PCR was performed to detect apicomplexan organisms. Partial 18S rDNA amplification products were obtained from 14 ticks from four tigers, of which 1...

As an apex predator the Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica Temminck, 1844) could play a pivotal role in maintaining the integrity of forest ecosystems in Northeast Asia. Due to habitat loss and harvest over the past century, tigers rapidly declined in China and are now restricted to the Russian Far East and bordering habitat in nearby China. To fa...

Interspecific interference competition including lethal interactions are notoriously difficult to document. While lethal interactions between Amur tigers, Amur leopards, and wolves have all been recorded, no records of such incidents between tigers and the Eurasian lynx exist. Following tiger tracks in Bastak Nature Reserve (Russia), we recorded th...

Context The Amur tiger and leopard, once roaming over the Eurasian continent, are now endangered and confined to the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, Russia—a landscape that has been increasingly fragmented due to human activities. The ultimate fate of these big cats depends on whether they can resettle in their previous main historical range in NE China. R...