On 29 April, the Amur tigress Filippa will be released into the Dichun Nature Sanctuary in the Jewish Autonomous Region after the 18 month she spent at the Centre for the Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Tigers and Other Rare Animals (PRNCO “Tiger Centre”).

The place and date of her release have been approved by the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) based on the results of a veterinary examination and medical tests.

It was previously reported that Filippa and her male friend Vladik would be released together in April. However, it has been decided to release Filippa separately because of the shortage of female tigers in the Jewish Autonomous Region.

“The regional authorities have long been working to restore the population of the Amur tiger, and now there are many male and few female tigers there: two females per five males. This is all wrong, which is why we have decided to release Filippa into the wild in the Jewish Autonomous Region,” director of the Amur Tiger Centre’s Far East branch Sergei Aramilev said.

Amur tigers are released into the wild in spring when the snow has melted and the majority of hooved animals can move around more freely. As a result, young tigers can hunt them on their own, while experts can hope that the tigers will not approach populated areas in search of food. Filippa’s movements will be traced via her GPS collar.

The tigress was found undernourished by residents of Filippovka, a village in the Khasan District in Primorye, near Land of the Leopard National Park in December 2015. Contact with humans was kept to a minimum during Filippa’s rehabilitation at the Tiger Centre in the village of Alekseyevka and preparation for release into the wild.