China, Russia launch joint lab on Siberian tiger conservation in northeast China

HARBIN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- A Sino-Russian joint research lab on Siberian tiger conservation was established at Northeast Forestry University in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Thursday.

The lab, with more than 20 experts from both sides, is co-developed by China's Feline Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Institute of Ecology and Evolution A.N.Severtsov of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The lab encompasses research areas such as wildlife ecology and management, Siberian tiger feeding and breeding, and wildlife genetics.

Siberian tigers, also known as Amur tigers, mainly reside in Russia's Far East and northeast China. As one of the world's most endangered species, just over 10 wild Siberian tigers were believed to be living in China at the end of the 20th century.

As the tigers frequently move between China and Russia, cooperation between the two sides is of vital importance, said Liu Ming, associate researcher from the International Society of Zoological Sciences.

Back in 2010, the two countries signed a cooperation agreement to protect Siberian tigers and Amur leopards, which are also one of the most endangered felines in the world.

The lab will form an international scientific research team engaged in endangered animal conservation, further deepen the theoretical and technical exchanges on Siberian tiger protection, and strengthen data sharing, said Jiang Guangshun, director of the laboratory expert committee.