on this day, a team drove up to a mountain four hours from vladivostok. they found tiger tracks in the snow. >> translator: you can see, this is the heel and these are the toes. >> reporter: experts can assess the sex and age of a tying fresh the size and depth of the footprints. >> translator: guessing from the size it was a mature female. >> reporter: the location and size of the footprints are recorded and later fed into a database. this will be used to decide the extent of the nature reserve and where poaching patrols are needed. team leader says that because the tigers are at the top of the food chain, they control the number of animals and this gives the ecosystem in balance. >> translator: you could say that the tigers regulate the ecosystem of russia's far east. >> reporter: the team has installed over 600 cameras and stepped up their patrols. they are also rescuing tigers they find injured or sick. the tiger is now asleep and the specialists are short of time to make all the appropriate tests. besides protecting the tigers the team is starting to