300 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



extreme east. It is said to be most plentiful in the Amur Province, 

 round the mouth of that river; it is also numerous in the Ussuri 

 Valley. Westward it probably extends almost to the Yablonoi 

 Mountains. 



"North of Khabarovsk they are extremely rare in the East, though 

 I understand there are a few in the Bureya Mountains. We saw 

 the tracks of only one in the region of Troitskov. In the Ussuri 

 River region they seemed to be relatively plentiful. East of Bikin 

 the forest seemed to be well tracked with tiger trails, but one tiger 

 throughout the winter can make a lot of tracks. We secured three 

 tigers fifty miles east of Bikin, during the winter 1929-30. As far 

 as I could learn, these were all the tigers taken in this region during 

 that winter. That the tigers have been able to hold their own up 

 to now seems somewhat encouraging, though the present extended 

 lumber activities of the Soviet Government take many Russian 

 hunters into the forest. Previously about the only people who 

 hunted the tiger were the Tungus tribes, with their primitive traps 

 and snares. I, personally, am under the impression that it is only 

 a matter of time until the tigers are reduced to the point of ex- 

 termination. 



"Tigers bring a big price in China, as medicine, but the hunter 

 has to cover a lot of territory and work hard to get even one animal." 

 (G. G. Goodwin, in litt., May 18, 1937.) 



Referring to the Maritime Province, Sowerby says (1934c, p. 40) : 

 "Tigers of the long-haired species, whose skins are so valuable, were 

 being secured in greater numbers than before, for, whereas formerly 

 about ten of these great cats were killed in the province each year, 

 over twenty had been killed during the first three months of the 

 present year." 



W. G. Heptner writes (in litt., December, 1936) that more than 

 ten are killed each year in eastern Siberia. Hunting is allowed 

 throughout the year. Protection is given, however, in the reserve of 

 Sikhota Alin. 



"Schrenck (1859, pp. 95-96) reported Fells tigris from Sakhalin 

 as a rare winter visitor from continent, but his statement seems very 

 doubtful" (Kuroda,1928,p.226). Ford Barclay (1915, p. 225) could 

 find no evidence of its occurrence there. 



Manchuria. In this country, says Sowerby, the Tiger is "the most 

 dreaded of the carnivores." He continues (1923, pp. 30-32) : 



His thick winter coat fetches a high price in the fur-markets of the world, 

 being worth far more than those of the Bengal, Persian or Sumatran tigers. 

 Not only is his skin of value, but his whole carcass; for the Chinese believe 

 that the bones, blood, heart, and even the flesh of the tiger have medicinal 

 properties of rare power, and will pay a goodly price for decoctions brewed 

 by the apothecary that contain such ingredients as powdered tiger's knee-cap, 



