A worker picks edible fungi at a nature reserve in Wangqing. (Photo by Zhang Zefeng/China Daily)
In the late 1990s, Jilin began a project to protect its natural forests, and established several nature reserves to conserve wildlife habitats. In 2015, commercial logging was banned in the province's key State-owned forests to assist the recovery of woodland resources.
"Those efforts fundamentally alleviate the conflict between timber production and the tigers' need for habitats," said Wu Zhigang, a researcher at the Jilin Provincial Academy of Forestry Science.
According to the latest data from the State Forestry Administration, during the late 1990s there were at most 14 Siberian tigers and 10 Amur leopards in the Changbai Mountains, which run along China's border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Now the figures are 27 and 42 respectively, and a number of cubs have also been spotted.
As the number of endangered species rises, the Jilin government has been exploring innovative solutions to settle conservation problems in nature reserves and create an animal-friendly environment.
Compensation
Early one morning last month, Jia Cunzeng received a call from a neighbor telling him that one of the cows he tended had been found dead at the foot of a mountain where Siberian tigers and other animals live.
Jia, who had previously spotted a tiger's footprints in the area, suspected that a big cat was responsible.
"The owner paid about 20,000 yuan ($3,000) for the cow last year," said the 66-year-old herdsman from Lishugou village in Hunchun. "If my assumption is correct, he will be entitled to compensation."
Judging by the bites and scratches on the carcass, Wu Wenming, an official with the Hunchun forestry bureau, concluded that a Siberian tiger had killed the cow.
"The bite on the cow's neck was fatal," he said. "The provincial government will reimburse the losses caused by the incident."
In 2007, Jilin formulated compensation guidelines to cover damage caused by wild animals. In recent years, the number of attacks has risen.
According to Zhang Jinyan, an official at the bureau, cases of wild animals, such as tigers, bears and boars, attacking livestock or destroying crops have risen from 228 in 2007 to 707 last year.
This year, tigers have already killed between 60 and 70 animals.
"The reimbursement plan guarantees the interests of local people whose properties are damaged by wild animals," Wu said. "To a degree, it mitigates conflicts between endangered species and the people who share the land with them."
