Safe Return Doubtful

Non-fiction – Conservation – published November 2025

Slaght’s earlier book, Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl, was one of books of the year two years ago, and if anything, this is even better.
The focus of both books is on conservation, and Slaght’s writing itself is doing wonderful things for the cause. As in the best fiction, his characters have depth and the reader cares about them, and there is a plot which is addictive and a page-turner.

The location of both books is similar, the isolated town of Terney, neighbouring the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve in the Primorye province of southeast Russia, close to its border with China, across which the tigers cross, unsurprisingly unchallenged. The author is the Regional Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Temperate Asia Program, where he oversees WCS programs in China, Mongolia, and Afghanistan, and projects in Russia and Central Asia.

The elusive Siberian, or more correctly called Amur, tigers fight for their survival. Poachers are the most direct of threats, the logging industry is eroding their territory, and many political twists of the day determine their fate too. The book is in three parts, roughly dealing with each decade from the 1990s to the present. It concerns a handful of scientists, in particular, Dale Miquelle, a fearless and altruistic conservationist, who is described splendidly by Slaght.

There is tension throughout, from the process involved with tracking a tiger, to darting it to enable a health check and the placement of a GPS collar around its neck to track its moves. During the 30 year time period advances in technology make the tracking more accurate. Those in this line of work must also work with haste in a harsh, icy cold climate, with danger from bears as well as the tigers themselves.

Despite not being able to be in Russia for six years Slaght has managed to highlight the plight of Blakiston fish owls, and Amur tigers through his writing. Arguably, by raising awareness of the whole process of conservation through such excellent books is doing even more than he was when in situ previously.

Here’s a couple of clips..

The path toward a future with Amur tigers across northeast Asia is clear. What remains uncertain is if we, as a global society, are able to see it through. Wildlife populations can be restored if we have the will to do so. This has been demonstrated with wolves in North America, brown bears in the Alps, and Eurasian lynx across Europe. In order to succeed, tiger conservation requires government agencies and national governments to be open, mutually respectful, and cooperative among themselves and across borders. Amur tigers move freely across the Sino-Russian frontier; governments, NGOs, and civil society should follow suit, taking their lead from the tigers.

and

The zapovednik system of nature reserves dates to 1916, before the Russian Revolution, when the Barguzin Nature Reserve was established near Lake Baikal in central Russia. Kedrovaya Pad-the smallest of Primorye’s four nature reserves, at 179 square kilometers-was established that same year. Unlike national parks, which came late to Russia in the 1980s and encouraged use and enjoyment by the public, zapovedniks were the first protected areas anywhere in the world designated specifically for nature preservation and scientific study. The point of these reserves was to understand what nature looked like and how it functioned in the absence of human influences. No one was allowed to just visit them: rangers provided protection, and staff scientists came to study and monitor the natural ecosystems.

My GoodReads score 5 / 5