A tigress and her two female cubs have been relocated into one enclosure with an area of 1.2 hectares at the Centre for the Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Tigers and Other Rare Animals (Tiger Centre). The tigress and her two cubs were captured at different times near the village of Alexei-Nikolskoye and the cubs were kept in a separate enclosure from their mother. After the experts made sure that the tigress was healthy, they decided to reunite the family. It is the first time that experts have worked on rehabilitating an entire Amur tiger family.

“We were waiting for the results of infectious diseases tests. As soon as we found out that the tigress was healthy, participants in a working meeting led by the director of the Department of Hunting Supervision decided to reunite the family. We will monitor them and see how developed the tigress’ maternal instinct is. But it seems okay for now: the cubs snuggle up to their mother and she licks them, which is very typical for cats,” said Viktor Kuzmenko, director of the Tiger Centre.

Experts note that all members of the family are behaving normally; the cubs play with each other and try to involve the tigress in their games. A sika deer will be released in their enclosure soon to see if the tigress will teach the cubs how to hunt and share prey with them.

“The tigress did not behave the way we wanted her to when she saw the cubs through the enclosure. It seemed like the cubs were not hers. Then, when her stress was reduced, she began to pay more attention to them. After a quarantine of sorts, we opened the door between the enclosures, but there was no happy reunion. She let one of the cubs come close, but the second one stayed away from her mother and the other cub for a long time. As of now, we can say that the animals have coped with the stress, and both the tigress and her daughters look like a happy family. We will do several tests soon, and then an expert commission will decide on where and how the family will be released and if it is possible at all,” said Sergei Aramilev, director general of the Amur Tiger Centre.

In the future, if the tigress and the cubs have a good relationship, they will be released together in a suitable environment as soon as in May. Otherwise experts will have to separate them: the cubs will be released after rehabilitation in 2019, while the tigress will live in captivity.

The rehabilitation of the Amur tiger family is supported by the Amur Tiger Centre.