During his working trip to the Primorye Territory, President Vladimir Putin visited the tiger and other endangered species rehab and reintroduction centre. The centre opened in 2011 and is used to rehabilitate motherless tiger cubs.

Two teenage (nine- and 11-month-old) female tigers brought from the Khabarovsk Territory were released into enclosures as Mr Putin watched from the control room monitors. The centre's employees informed the President as to how the rehabilitation process works. First, the centre's employees teach cubs how to stalk prey by releasing rabbits and deer in the enclosures. In May, one tiger by the name of Cinderella was released into the Bastak Nature Reserve in the Jewish Autonomous Region after a period of rehabilitation. The tiger was found in the wild in spring 2012 in an extremely emaciated condition. The cat took a full rehab course at the centre, was released and is currently being tracked.

Mr Putin asked how much funding the centre needs to function properly. According to the employees, the centre is located on three hectares and its maintenance runs into 11 million roubles per year. Each tiger rehab procedure averages 1 million roubles per year. Thus, the centre needs about 30 million roubles to function properly.

Minister of the Environment Sergei Donskoi said that 3 to 4 million roubles will be allocated under the current plan. The President asked Mr Donskoi to revise the calculations and find a way to finance the centre properly.