The population of the endangered big cats is rising again in Northeast China, as the animals travel south for prey. Su Zhou reports from Suiyang county, in Heilongjiang.

 

Li Gang has had two close shaves with rare, wild tigers.

 

As a forest ranger in Heilongjiang province, he has spent the last six years patrolling the protection zones for big cats, removing poachers' traps and checking on the monitoring cameras.

 

"Once, after I collected a memory card from a camera, I checked the footage and discovered a tiger had passed by just a minute before I arrived," said the 35-year-old. "If I'd have been just a few moments earlier, I'd have come face to face with it."

 

Despite not seeing one in the flesh, Li has developed an attachment to the big cats through photographs and videos. "I miss them if I don't see them on camera for a while. I think about where they go, or if it snows, about whether they have enough food."

 

Li, who patrols his native Dongning county, is among the many villagers of Heilongjiang and Jilin - two provinces in Northeast China with long traditions of hunting - who are devoted to protecting Siberian tigers, also known as Amur tigers. And their efforts appear to be paying off.

 

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