VZCZCXRO3208
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHYG
DE RUEHVK #0081 2030801
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 220801Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1177
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 1282

UNCLAS VLADIVOSTOK 000081 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV RS
SUBJECT: A VISIT TO THE TIGRESS OF GAIVORON 
 
Poloff and FSN visited a tiger rehabilitation center in central 
Primorye July 17 and discussed conservation with its director. 
His work has saved over two dozen tigers injured by poachers 
over the past twenty years.  Most of the tigers were brought to 
the center either by hunters, environmentalists, or concerned 
locals.  After physical treatment which requires extensive 
interaction with humans, they are often unable to re-adapt to 
life in the wild and are sent to zoos or circuses.  Director 
Victor Yudin is a researcher with the Russian Academy of Science 
and has been residing in the town of Gaivoron, 250 km north of 
Vladivostok, for almost 20 years.  He is the director and the 
only employee at the center which is supported by the Institute 
of Biology and Soil Sciences (IBSS) located in Vladivostok. 
 
Meeting the Tiger Family 
------------------------ 
 
In previous years, the center worked with five to seven tigers 
at a time, though currently it houses only three.  An 
18-year-old tigress Nyura, is the oldest of all of the tigers 
ever placed in the center.  Together with her mate Kucher, who 
died recently, she had seven cubs at the center.  Their last 
offspring, male 4-year-old Almaz, still lives with Nyura at the 
center, but will likely be sent to a zoo as were his brothers 
and sisters.  The third tiger, about one year old, which was 
found last winter starving in a nearby forest and brought to the 
center by local hunters, is kept separately and away from 
people.  Yudin is optimistic that he will be able to send him 
back into the wild -- the absence of human contact is the main 
condition of tiger's successful adaptation to wildlife.  Two 
black bears, seven lynxes, two raccoon dogs, and a wild cat are 
among other inhabitants of the center. 
 
Director at Odds With the Mainstream 
------------------------------------ 
 
Yudin often is at odds with the mainstream conservation 
community.  Though funding is increasingly scarce, he rejects 
any kind of business partnership, which he believes would 
improve the financial situation but distract him from his 
scientific studies.  He criticizes 'foreign funds ' saying that 
their goal is more self-promotion than conservation, and that 
World Wildlife Fund employees make financial profit from tigers 
while doing little to actually protect the species.  He proudly 
refuses grants from international organizations, preferring 
donations from area residents and visitors.  Yudin is also of 
the feeling that "Americans do not like me " because he 
vehemently opposes radio tracking collars on tigers as he 
suspects they disorient the tigers and make it difficult to 
track prey.  He publishes his articles only in Russian and 
refuses to have them translated into English or to publish them 
on the Internet. 
 
As a Result, Funding is Particularly Difficult 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
Partly because he eschews mainstream funding sources and partly 
because of generally difficult economic times, funding for the 
center is insufficient.  Officially, he is an employee of the 
IBSS, and regularly receives a modest monthly salary from the 
institute.  He complains that he does not receive adequate 
funding from the Academy of Science, and it shows.  Cages for 
the animals were shabby, cramped, and made from various metal 
remnants.  The two-hectare open-air cage where tigers live needs 
constant attention to prevent tigers from escaping.  Gaivoron 
locals and businessmen from nearby Spassk donate some food for 
Yudin's animals, as did Consulate visitors.  He prohibits 
photography at the center, and makes additional income from 
visitors buying photographs of his tigers for 130 rubles (USD 
4.50) each. 
 
Comment.  Funding for the center is scarce, and Yudin avoids the 
usual sources of conservation funding.  His work, however, is 
valuable and essential.  His center has saved dozens of tigers 
which would have perished otherwise.  It is encouraging that the 
center still exists and does receive official -- though modest 
-- funding.   However, for a director nearing retirement age, 
finding someone to eventually replace Yudin may be difficult. 
 
MILLER