Researchers from Land of Leopard National Park have received some very curious photos of an Amur tiger family. A camera trap captured the tigress T 7F with two cubs during playtime. Such behavior means that the tiger family is feeling comfortable and safe.

“These pictures are unique because they show not just a tiger walking by, but an entire episode from the life of a healthy tiger family,” said Yekaterina Blidchenko, Land of the Leopard research fellow and a zoologist at the Tiger Centre. “The cubs are 4-5 months old; they cannot fully control their bodies yet too well, so it is very important for them to play such group games. It develops muscles and helps train them in hunting skills. However, first and foremost, it’s the social experience and the mother tigress is the first and main teacher. What we see here is the behavior of happy animals that have enough food and a tigress who has time to play with her cubs.”

“The tigress T 7F had already been a mother: in 2014 our trail cameras captured her with three cubs, each of them successfully reaching maturity. What’s interesting is that two of them left Russia and took up residence in China, while the third one lives near the border and is captured by trail cameras of the two countries,” said Dina Matyukhina, senior research fellow at Land of the Leopard.

The pictures of the tiger family were taken in November 2016, but were only received recently during a trail camera inspection. According to the latest information, there were at least 22 adult Amur tigers and 7 tiger cubs at Land of the Leopard in 2016.