A 14-month old endangered Amur tiger has been released into the Ussuriisky Nature Reserve.
After six months of care and rehabilitation, a critically endangered Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) has been returned to the wild in the Ussuriisky Nature Reserve.
The orphaned tiger was found in March, weak and emaciated at just 17 kg, when it showed up in the village of Avangard.
Experts at Inspection Tiger determined the eight-month-old cub would not survive if left on its own, so the decision was made to capture and rehabilitate the orphan.
According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) announcement, the tiger cub was under the care of Dr. Viktor Udin. The tiger underwent a rehabilitation program to regain natural hunting skills and learn to fear humans. It also received a specialized weight-gaining diet, which increased the animal’s weight to 70 kg.
To monitor the tiger’s progress, scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences fitted it with a radio collar before the release.
IFAW Russian Director, Masha Vorontsova, is pleased with the results of the tiger’s rehabilitation.
We are extremely happy and excited to have this tiger back in the wild. Our hope is that this historic release will allow more endangered tigers to be saved in the future. Today’s release shows that scientifically-proven rehabilitation techniques can translate into the conservation of one of the world’s most enigmatic species.
However, not all rehabilitated tigers are able to return to the wild. Since 2007, IFAW has worked with six orphaned tiger cub rehabilitations. Five of six rescued orphans were deemed non-releasable and live in captivity. According to IFAW, this is only the second wild release for a rehabilitated Amur tiger.
There are only about 450 Amur tigers in the wild. The total wild tiger population comprised of the surviving five tiger species numbers just 4,000. (The South China tiger is considered functionally extinct.)
The Amur tiger, like all tiger species, has been slaughtered to near extinction by the demand in China for tiger skin and body parts, where the illegal market in endangered species products continues to flourish, driving tigers and rhino closer to complete extermination in the wild.
WWF credits intense conservation efforts for bringing this species back from a low point of just 40 Amur tigers in the wild during the 1940s.
Here’s to hoping this tiger lives a long and healthy life in the wild!
Image source: flickr.com/tambako / CC BY-ND 2.0
About Rhishja Cota-Larson
Hello,
In the title on this article there is suggested that the Amur tiger is critcally endangered. IUCN classifies this tiger not as ‘critically endangered’ but as ‘endangered’. see http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15956/0
kind regards, Hans
From the author:
Hans, you are absolutely right and I have made the correction. Thank you