Manchurian tigers active in Jilin

Three wild Manchurian tigers, which are rare and hard to be tracked, were recently filmed using infrared array cameras at a forest farm in the Wangqing Protection Area, Jilin province.

The cameras were set up by the Forestry Department of Jilin Province and Beijing Normal University.

The first time a Manchurian tiger was filmed in the Wangqing Protection Area was on June 8, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The first male Manchurian tiger was discovered on June 8, 2016, and a female one was filmed on Dec 8, 2016, and April 22, 2017, which was also the first time such clear images of these wild animals had been captured.

She stopped in front of the camera and directly looked at it. Then she left and turned around, blinking her eyes at the lens.

A female Manchurian tiger looks directly at the camera on Dec 8, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

On Feb 2, 2017, and April 19, 2017, a third Manchurian tiger was filmed. It was a male one and was seen swiftly moving his strong body through the forest of the Wangqing Protection Area.

The area is a national natural protection area for wild Manchurian tigers and Manchurian leopards, and the population of these creatures seems to be increasing with the improvement of the natural environment.

A screen capture from the video of a third Manchurian tiger filmed in the Wangqing area. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Sun Quan, deputy-director general of the Wangqing Protection Area, explained that infrared array cameras were set up in the area in 2011 to observe the growth and living conditions of Manchurian tigers and leopards.

"To date, there have been three to four Manchurian tigers and five to six Manchurian leopards filmed in the area," he added.

Manchurian tigers, also known as the Amur or Siberian tiger, mainly live in eastern Russia, northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. It is estimated that there are only less than 500 living in the wild by the end of 2015.