CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Childebayeva, Aidana |
|---|---|
| Title | Prospects of Amur tiger recovery in China and Kazakhstan using GIS and Remote Sensing |
| Summary | According to the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), the population of the tiger is planned to increase. Up to date, successful conservation initiatives in Russia have led to the increase of the Amur tiger in the wild and the change of its status from “Critically Endangered” to “Endange red”. The planned Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park (NTLNP) is aiming to recover the population of the Amur tiger in China. An even more ambitious tiger initiative is taking place in Central Asia. Kazakhstan with the support of WWF Russia is planning to reintroduce the currently extinct Caspian tiger by bringing its closest extant relative, the Amur tiger to the territory of the newly established Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve (IB). The current thesis focuses on Amur tiger restoration in China and the restoration prospects of Caspian tiger in Kazakhstan, comparatively analyzing their nature reserves with the Amur tiger habitat suitability model in the Russian Far East within the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve (SA). A multi-scale approach used to analyze habitat suitability includes the use of Geographical Information System (GIS) that shapes a predictive research model incorporating ecological data on relevant spatial and temporal scales. Methods include analysis of the remotely sensed data, secondary data, and an interview. According to the final suitability maps, the territory of the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park is highly suitable for tiger conservation and the initiative has prospects for the restoration of the Amur tiger population in China. The territory of the Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve has a low habitat suitability level, while the need to restore the local ecosystem and tiger prey to ensure successful reintroduction raises doubts about the success of the initiative. |
| Supervisor | Lagutov, Viktor |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/childebayeva_aidana.pdf |
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