Myths about tiger numbers in Russia

We are constantly told that at the dawn of the last century there were practically no tigers in Russia. They refer to completely unrealistic figures — literally, in the officials’ own replies to our letters, they cite data about “25–30 tigers by the 1930s.” And it is very bad that many people trust such data, because in reality it is impossible to verify.

Just as it was impossible to count tigers at that time. Look at the archival photographs — this is how tigers were destroyed. It was a mass phenomenon: people took photographs and were proud of how they were exterminating the striped beast. At the same time, at the beginning of the last century, the global development of the Far East was only just beginning; scientists in later works confirm that the first record of tigers appeared only by the 1940s. There were no reliable methods, and certainly no technical means, at that time. And the tiger is a cautious animal: it rarely comes out to people if the Russian Taiga is still alive.

You can read more in a separate material; I strongly recommend it: https://pavel-pashkov.com/articles/ru/tiger-population

I will make a brief conclusion:

The figure of 25–30 individuals by the 1930s is cited by those who actively lobby for trophy hunting of tigers.
In their works, scientists say that there were no reliable counts, and that the first census took place only in the 1940s. According to their own data, a more or less viable population requires at least 1,000 breeding individuals. Today, for comparison, we have only about 750 tigers according to official data.
Even in the 1940s, the estimate was made based on how many times tigers were seen near settlements, according to surveys of local residents. There was a great deal of undeveloped wild nature, vast and rich territories, and the tiger did not come to people on its own.
Today, tigers are coming to people not because their numbers have multiplied excessively, but because people have destroyed their habitat and doomed them to starvation.

In our civilized age, certain influential groups continue to actively push myths about the “immeasurably growing number of animals,” thereby advancing their own personal interests — recreational trophy hunting.