The rehabilitation of the tiger Saikhan and the tigress Lazovka at the Tiger Centre, which are patronised by the Amur Tiger Centre, is going according to plan. Despite the serious injuries the tiger cubs received almost a year ago, there are no problems with their behaviour.

 “I hope they see their enclosure not as a prison but as a boarding house or hospital from which they will soon be released,” said Sergei Aramilev, director general of the Amur Tiger Centre.

The spacious enclosure is located on 2.1 hectares. The cubs’ favourite place is an old tree that they have chosen to play on. Specialists monitoring the cubs note that all residents of the enclosure sharpened their claws on that tree: the tigers Zolushka, Boris, Kuzya, Tikhon and Filippa.

According to Viktor Kuzmenko, director of the Tiger Centre, the predators are very friendly and do not have any conflicts. “We are also glad that their hunting skills correspond to their age. Now they eat exclusively live animals, mostly deer,” he said.

As all teenagers, the tigers actively run, jump, climb the tree and do not forget to bat each other in a friendly manner.

If their rehabilitation goes well, the tigers will be released into the wild next spring.