Released into the wild last May, tigress Ilona is enjoying her first spring at the Khingan Nature Reserve.

Specialists note that the tigress has grown and matured in winter and is now in search of a mate. The trail cameras installed in the reserve captured Ilona leaving marks on trees.

Ilona was released into the Zhelundinsky Nature and Wildlife Reserve in the Amur Region in May 2014. During the past year, she visited the southern and central Arkharinsky District, set foot in the Jewish Autonomous Region, and later returned to the Amur Region. Currently Ilona is in the Khingan Nature Reserve. She covered 2,400 kilometres in the course of the last 12 months.