Tigress Severina at the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve is a mother for the first time. In March, researchers detected traces of an adult female with a cub on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Later, they received the first images of the tigress with her cub from the camera traps.

Tigers with cubs have not been recorded for over 10 years in the Blagodatnoye tract where Severina settled with her cub. Severina is about four years old, while her first cub is estimated to be about six months old.

According to the Director of the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve, Svetlana Sutyrina, the Blagodatnoye tract has the highest population density of hooved animals in the reserve, and the snow depth along the Sea of Japan coastline is much lower than in the centre of the reserve, on average.

“These are ideal conditions for bringing up tiger cubs, especially for young first-time tiger mothers. For us, it’s a wonderful opportunity to see footage from the camera traps depicting a tigress walking with her cub by the sea,” Sutyrina said, adding that judging by the tracks, the cub’s father regularly visits his family, although the cameras have not yet caught the three of them together. The male tiger, who is about Severina’s age, settled in the Blagodatnoye tract simultaneously with her, in 2021. Last fall, the reserve’s staff noted the signs of a tiger wedding – the roll-call of animals, and they were seen together on camera.

The specialists report that now the cub accompanies his mother while she tours their area. He is curious and has been actively exploring the territory. He will master the skills of hunting after a few months. Preparations for adult life last several months. The cub will stay with its mother until about two years old. He will be able to hunt independently when he is 1.5 or 2 years old. The tigress will watch him hunting and protect him for several months before she lets him find his own home.

The Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve is one of Russia’s largest tiger habitats. It is also considered “an elite kindergarten” for these striped predators. A specially protected natural area is an ideal place for raising offspring that then settle in different parts of the habitat. It is from this area that tigers started spreading throughout the Primorye Territory in the 1940s and 1950s, when their overall number in the southern part of the Far East was no more than 50 individuals.