A resident of the Dalny Kut village in the Krasnoarmeisky District of the Primorye Territory found a collar with a satellite-linked transmitter within two kilometres of the village. The number on the transmitter indicated that the collar belonged to an orphaned tiger cub that was forcedly removed from the wild in winter 2009-2010.

Afterwards, the tiger underwent rehabilitation. As a result, the animal gained up to 110 kilogrammes and learned to hunt and avoid people. Before being released into the wild, specialists fastened a collar with a satellite-linked transmitter on the tiger’s neck. The collar was preset to automatically unfasten in 18 months. The animal was released into the wild at the Udege Legend National Park on 27 September 2010.

The baby tiger’s transmitter was operational until 3 January 2011, after which a malfunction occurred. The collar unfastened as programmed.  

The finding proves that the tiger cub’s reintroduction into the wild was successful.

The collar with a transmitter was delivered to the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution. Specialists seek to obtain more detailed information about the tiger’s movements before the collar unfastened.