Over the weekend, Vladivostok hosted Tiger Day celebrations involving about 10,000 people.

Maria Okulova, a representative of Leopard Land National Park, said Tiger Day is meant to raise public awareness of the need to save the endangered Amur tiger.

“Tiger Day celebrations in Vladivostok were larger than ever this year, involving about 10,000 people. This is hardly surprising, as the holiday has been growing steadily more popular, and this is the 15th time it’s been held,” she noted.

The festival began on Saturday, with a “birthday party” for tiger cubs on Sportivnaya Quay and a reading of a new children’s book. A monument to the Amur tiger was unveiled in front of the Primorye Opera and Ballet Theater.

Sunday’s festivities started with a costume parade. Columns of school and university students, city residents and tourists wearing tiger costumes marched down Okeansky Prospekt, the main street in Vladivostok.

In 2013 about 6,000 people took part in the celebrations.

Tiger Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of September in the Russian Far East. In 2001, it was officially designated an annual city holiday.