Letter from Dr. Gary Koehler to Editor of ‘Next’ magazine, Feb 8 2005 <

To: Pat Lee Hoi

From: Gary M. Koehler, Ph.D.
Wildlife Research Scientist
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

The comments here are in response to questions that you emailed to me on 2 February 2005 regarding an interview with Ms. Li Quan and efforts by her to conserve the South China Tiger.

I am aware that Li’s efforts have received criticism from several international conservation organizations and individuals involved with conservation in the international arena. The history of conservation has been an evolution of strategies: from the colonial imposed ‘fortress’ concepts, where natural areas were locked-up with the belief that such areas can only exist and survive separate from people, to ‘Integrated Conservation and Development Programs’, where it was believed that conservation would only succeed when the concerns and interests of local people and their economies are ‘part of the conservation equation’. These concepts and philosophies have been dominated by the ‘western‘ ideology of nature and the role of people as part of or apart from nature. Over the years some of these strategies have been met with success, but all too frequently they have failed to meet the conservation objectives.

Conservation and strategies to conserve wildlife and wild places has been and will continue to be an ‘experiment’. The conservation community must acknowledge that any strategy to ‘save’ or ‘conserve’ a species or natural area is an scientific ‘experiment’ and that any strategy, if it is to succeed, must adapt and evolve to our changing understandings of what works and what does not work. To be successful any conservation strategy must be responsive to the needs of the species and people and must be willing to adapt when the objectives or goals are not being met.

Ms. Li’s strategy is an ‘experiment’ as well. There is no guarantee that it will succeed. I believe that some in the conservation community are reluctant to indorse this ‘experiment’ because of their unwillingness to recognize that ‘we professionals’ may not have the right answers or know the correct pathways to conserving our natural areas. Although most conservation organizations may consult with a team of biologists, sociologists, economics when developing a conservation strategy; many efforts are formulated by ‘scientists’ or ‘biologists’ that do not have the skills nor understandings of indigenous peoples beliefs and economics in the conservation equation; a daunting challenge in our escalating global economy and consumerism.

I do believe it is a worthwhile ‘experiment’ to attempt a ‘novel’ conservation approach for which Ms. Li advocates and for which she is expending her personal energy and resources to ‘test’. She acknowledges that it may not succeed, but she is willing to invest her money and reputation on such a gamble. The conservation community and their institutions cannot afford to take such a gamble. Western conservation organizations require financial support from their members and corporate sponsors. Our western philosophy and ideology of the wild felid is a picture of a ‘tiger’ or ‘cougar’ running wild in a natural setting where humans are not part. This ‘Edenistic’ image of wild animals and natural areas is which most conservation organization appeal to when soliciting for financial support; a very unrealistic image when considering the reality of our human dominated planet and the challenges that the looming global economy is and will present toward conservation of the planets last vestiges of wildness.

Ms. Li’s efforts to restore the South China Tiger among the remnant wild areas in China challenges our ‘western’ philosophy and image of tiger conservation. Humans are having and will continue to have a profound influence on saving these remnants of our natural heritage. This, I believe, is why we need ‘experiments’ with ‘non-conventional’ approaches to conservation; one that recognizes that the few natural areas left on our planet must consider and be willing to ‘test’ alternative strategies. Conservation of wild areas and tigers in China is the scenario for which our planet, including the west, will face in the near future.

Because of these daunting challenges, it is no reason to abandon efforts to conserve species like the South China Tiger. If conservation is to succeed with the challenges that human population growth and the global economy will pose in the immediate future, then we must reach deep into our bag of strategies and test alternatives to the ‘accepted’ conservation approaches. I do believe that we should consider and ‘experiment’ with approaches proposed by those outside the sanctioned conservation club. If the ‘experiment’ does not meet the objectives, then we have lost little and have gained a deeper understanding of conservation and how we may merge ‘conventional’ and ‘non-conventional’ approaches for conserving our wild heritage.

I do believe that it is important to attempt to restore the few and relatively small wild areas of China. I, and I am sure Ms. Li does as well, recognize the problems and challenges to restore tigers among the few natural areas remaining in China. These will become natural areas only if a full complement of ecological trophic structures are restored, where the tiger has its place on the top of this link. A natural area that will support tigers will include a diversity of prey and plant communities.

The question as to whether there are areas adequate in size to support a viable population of tigers is a valid concern, but one, I believe, that can be addressed if we are willing to examine and perhaps redefine what we mean by a viable population. Just as zoos and ‘nature enclosures’ can support viable and reproductive successful reservoirs of wild species, small natural areas may also serve to support and play a role in an overall conservation strategy for a species as the tiger. Even our largest National Parks and Wilderness areas in the western United States are not of adequate size to fully protect ecologically equivalent species of the tiger in North America: the grizzly bear, grey wolf, and cougar. These carnivores that occupy our largest Parks and Wilderness are subjected to human caused mortalities as animals disperse or reside along the periphery of these reserves.

The argument posed by some conservationists suggests that there are better places and species to focus efforts and money that are more apt to meet with conservation success than the South China Tiger and it’s historic habitats. My belief is that we should not abandon any attempt to save a species. If we in North America had this attitude in our own back yard then we would have abandoned the bald eagle, California condor, black-footed ferret, grizzly bear, western grey wolf, and others to extinction long ago. We have taken species perched near extinction and restored them as a component of our natural heritage, and this I believe is possible with the South China Tiger.

Efforts to conserve the South China Tiger are a worthwhile endeavor. The challenges are great, and will require efforts and strategies not tested before. Saving the South China Tiger from extinction and as part of natural systems in China will require innovative and bold approaches, commitment and intensive management strategies, and perhaps understandings and skills we in the biological and conservation community may not possess or appreciate. We need to reach out to people outside our profession: sociologist, religious leaders, and people with skills in the business world. It is we humans and our economies that have placed species at peril, and it is only we that can throw a ‘life line’ to ensure a species persistence. If only a single person has the commitment and resources to take on such a challenge, then we in the conservation community should lend a hand and offer our skills and knowledge to support such an endeavor, and not condemn it. Many great contributions toward mankind and our world were made possible by the vision and dedication of a single individual.