The Amur tiger Ustin, last seen near Khabarovsk, crossed the Russian-Chinese border on 11 November.

His movement has been tracked by the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Primorye Territory Tiger Special Inspectorate and the Russian branch of the World Conservation Society.

Last weekend, the researchers monitored the tiger as he wandered around Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island and the coastal area of southern Khabarovsk.

According to spokesman for the Tiger Special Inspectorate Viktor Serdyuk, the animal is gradually getting farther from Russia as he looks for a permanent home. “At any time, it can decide to turn back or cross the river. Now its movement is being monitored by the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources together with our Chinese colleagues,” he said.

Ustin is the second Siberian tiger to cross the Russian-Chinese border in the past two months. In early October, a tiger known as Kuzya swam across the Amur River to China.