Sikhote-Alin Mountains

The Sikhote-Alin runs about a thousand kilometres along the Pacific coast of Primorye, and its interest is biogeographical: the last glaciation did not cover it, so northern and southern species that were separated elsewhere meet here - spruce and fir growing with Manchurian walnut, Amur cork tree, lianas and wild ginseng, and brown bear sharing forest with Asiatic black bear, leopard, and the Amur tiger. The biosphere reserve, founded in 1935 and listed by UNESCO in 2001, protects about four thousand square kilometres and is the core of the tiger's range; there are perhaps five to six hundred Amur tigers in the wild, most of them in this region, recovered from around forty animals in the 1940s. Tigers are effectively never seen - tracks in snow are what researchers and occasional visitors get. Permits are required, routes are fixed, and independent walking is not allowed.

What you actually see

• The species overlap - boreal conifers growing with Manchurian and subtropical plants.
• The tiger range - the core habitat of a population recovered from about forty animals.
• The 1935 reserve - a UNESCO site since 2001 covering four thousand square kilometres.
• The tracks - in winter snow, which is what visitors realistically see of tigers.

When to go

June to September for the forest; February for tracks in snow. Three days to a week. Permits and guided routes are compulsory.

Honest expectations

Tigers are not seen - anyone offering a sighting is selling something. Permits are required and independent walking is prohibited. Ticks in summer are severe and carry disease. Bears of two species are present. Terney is a long drive from Vladivostok.

Nearby

Terney is the reserve town; the Land of the Leopard park is far to the south.