Russia: Tiger country

GRAHAM SIMMONS enjoys the wildlife as he voyages down a mighty wilderness river in the remote east of Russia.

I was on the trail of the Amur tiger, a beast whose survival skills in the harsh wilderness of the Russian Far East are legendary. But tigers in the wild are rare. Even they can't withstand the bullets of the rapacious poachers who nearly wiped out the species.

The natural habitat of the Amur tiger is the Sikhote-Alin Ranges, fronting the Amur River. I'm cruising the Amur north of the city of Khabarovsk. The round trip on the Amur Star will take eight days.

At the junction of the Amur and Gorin Rivers, the Komsomolskaya Nature Reserve is a stunning area of wetlands, attracting migrating cranes, hawks and eagles. One, the Broad-shouldered Sea Eagle, features in shamanic symbols used by the local Nanai people. Along the meandering Gorin River live a few families of Nanai, a tribe immortalised in the movie Dersu Uzala.

As recently as the early-1900s, the Amur tiger, among the biggest predators on Earth, was so plentiful that it frequently had to be culled. But by the late-1940s the total had fallen to an all-time low of 30 to 40.

Paradoxically, Stalinist controls on the movement of poachers saved the tiger from extinction and, by 1970, the total had recovered to around 200. Then, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, it was open season again. The establishment of a joint Russian-American tiger research project in 1992 finally raised numbers to non-critical levels.

Aboard the Amur Star, World Wildlife Fund guest speaker Konstantin Zgurovsky gives some sobering statistics. The Amur tiger has hopefully now been saved, with 400 to 450 in the wild.

But other species are in danger of extinction, including the snow leopard, of which only 25 to 40 remain.

Our boat makes a beeline for Bogorodskoye, a typical town on the Amur. Even in this isolated river port, there are plenty of signs of activity. One character talks on a mobile phone, another strides purposefully with a briefcase. Smartly dressed women bargain for the latest fashions in the new clothing market. Bogorodskoye is also home to a large number of Ulchi people, a group related to the Nanai.

Turning south, our ship reaches the town of Bulava, of which nearly the whole population is of Ulchi and Nanai descent. At the wharf, Ulchi fishers are unloading a rich catch of salmon.

In Bulava's excellent ethnological Ulchi museum, curator Yuri Kusalii explains a little of the complex world of shamanism.

"We believe that every hill and mountain, and every plant in this district, has its own soul," he says.

When a person fell ill, the shaman recommended herbs to be used. There was also the kamaniya ritual, in which the shaman tried to exorcise the spirits that had caused the disease.

Bulava's main claim to fame is its outstanding folkloric troupe Giva, which has toured internationally.

One of Russia's newest national parks, the Bolonsky Reserve, upstream from the industrial city of Komsomolsk-na-Amure and centred around the 60km-long Lake Bolon, has been open to visitors since 1998.

This stunning region of lakes, islands and wetlands attracts millions of migratory birds, which pass through each autumn on their migration south, returning in spring.

Aleksei, our speedboat driver on Lake Bolon, is an ace navigator on these sometimes-shallow waters.

In the wetlands, a huge variety of birds - cranes, storks and ducks - take to the air while herons wade quietly in the still waters. Among the birds nesting here are such endangered species as the Oriental White Stork, the Japanese and Hooded Cranes and the Mandarin Duck.

Sadly, this voyage of discovery is nearly over, as we head back to Khabarovsk via the Nanai capital, Troitskoye. The whole trip has been a superb introduction to the natural and ethnographic richness of the Amur River region.

But we haven't seen any tigers. I've seen stuffed specimens in museums, tiger figurines, posters, T-shirts and tiger-striped uniforms, but not a single live specimen.

Journalist Yuri Nikaiovich Startsev brims over with optimism for the future of this region. When the tunnel from Cape Lazarev (near Mariinsk) to Sakhalin Island and another on to Hokkaido are completed, he says, it will be possible to travel by train all the way from Tokyo to London.

If and when this vision is realised (possibly within five to 10 years), freight will reach North Asia from Europe 10 times faster than the best sea-freight service. The whole of Russia could be opened up as never before.

But somehow, I can't help thinking that the real Amur tigers will be looking at this scenario with huge amusement, marvelling at what lengths a human must go to just to survive in this often-hostile environment.

By comparison with the Amur tiger, it seems we humans are just pussycats.

Travel East Russia

Case notes

* How to get there

Korean Air flies regularly from Auckland to Vladivostok, via Seoul. Alternatively, Asiana Airlines flies weekly from Sydney to Khabarovsk via Seoul.

* What you need

To obtain a Russian visa, it is essential to make all travel arrangements in advance. The MIR Corporation, headquartered in Seattle (US), has a wealth of expertise in making arrangements to visit Far Eastern Russia. Contact Mir Corporation, 85 South Washington St, Suite 210, Seattle, WA USA 98104, tel 206-624-7289, fax 206-624-7360, email: info@mircorp.com

* Where to Stay

Khabarovsk: Hotel Intourist (2 Amursky Blvd, tel +7 4212 399192, email: rostour@intour.khv.ru) is efficiently run, with an excellent bar and espresso bar.

Amethyst Hotel (5a Leo Tolstoy Street, tel +7 4212 325172, amethyst@hotel.kht.ru) is an excellent budget alternative, centrally located.

Basic hotels also in Bogorodskoye (+7 42151 51943) and Troitskoye (+7 42156 41293).

* What to see

The gracious art deco city of Khabarovsk, now undergoing a full-scale facelift.

The bird sanctuaries of Lake Bolon, in Bolonsky Reserve.

The Aboriginal Cultural Research Centre, in Troitskoye.