On 29 April, a tigress named Filippa left the Centre for the Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Tigers and Other Rare Animals and was released into the wild in the Dichun Nature Sanctuary located in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The tigress will hopefully adapt well to her new surroundings and become part of the local Amur tiger group, which currently consists of 10 animals. A GPS collar will help track her movements.

Specialists hope that the Amur tigers that are undergoing rehabilitation at the centre will restock the tiger population of the Jewish Autonomous Region and settle in Pompeyevsky National Park, to be created soon in line with the Amur tiger conservation strategy. The new park will sprawl across the basin of the Pompeyevka River bordering on China’s Taipinggou Nature Reserve.

“The creation of a new national park will ensure the stable existence of the tiger in the region and push the tourist potential up. And that means more new jobs for local residents,” said Sergei Aramilev, director of the Far Eastern branch of the Amur Tiger Centre. “By the way, a larger tiger population will help fight the wolves as these predators cause far greater damage.”