Sergei Aramilev, general director of the Amur Tiger Centre, gave an update on the tigers Vladimir Putin released into the wild in 2014.

During his interview with RIA Novosti held as part of the Eastern Economic Forum (11–13 September, Vladivostok), Sergei Aramilev said that soon after Svetlaya the tigress was released she gave birth to an unusually large litter. The father, Boris the tiger, was released at the same time. All the cubs are fine, Sergei Aramilev said.

“All the cubs are doing well; they are now leaving the litter. Svetlaya is a hero – she raised them all,” he said.

At the same time, Boris may form a couple with Filippa; a camera spotted them meeting once.

Sergei Aramilev also added that it is unknown what happened to Kuzya, although various rumours about an unidentified tiger with a collar come from China, the Jewish Autonomous Region and the Khabarovsk Territory from time to time. Specialists have not found the tiger’s remains from poachers or the collar.

Zoologists hope that Ilona will bear cubs, too. “There is a good chance of that since male tigers have begun visiting the Amur Region, and sometimes we found their paw prints just a day-long trip away from her. So we all are waiting for the winter in hopes of confirming that Ilona has a mate and will have cubs,” Sergei Aramilev said.

He also noted that the tiger release in which Vladimir Putin took part launched the tiger reintroduction programme in the Jewish Autonomous Region. “All of this began with the president’s cubs; if there were just a couple of felines in the Jewish Autonomous Region back then, there are 12–13 now, offspring of the reintroduced felines, and this number will grow. We are glad that those tigers rarely get into conflict with the locals, and all of the conditions are in place to support the optimal number of felines in the region,” Aramilev added.