Russia presented Kazakhstan with four Amur tigers

On May 28, Russia will transfer four Amur tigers captured in the wild to Kazakhstan as part of a large-scale interstate program to restore the tiger population in Kazakhstan. It is implemented by the environmental agencies of the two states. The Amur Tiger Center provides support in the implementation of the program.

The animals have already been delivered to Kazakhstan and are in a rehabilitation center. The handover ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 28, as part of the V Eurasian Economic Forum. President of Russia Vladimir Putin, Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Amur Tiger Center Konstantin Chuichenko, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia Alexander Kozlov, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan Yerlan Nysanbayev will take part in it.

Adults who have reached the age of three, a male and a female, and two mixed-sex tiger cubs under one year old will be transferred to Kazakhstan. The animals became participants in the world's first international program to restore the tiger population in a country where a rare predator previously lived, but then disappeared due to uncontrolled hunting, deterioration of habitat quality and a reduction in the food supply.

"Adult tigers were spotted in the vicinity of populated areas and captured for preventive purposes in order to prevent conflict situations. The orphaned tiger cubs were found in an emaciated state thanks to caring citizens. Specialists from the Hunting Supervision of the Khabarovsk Territory and the Amur Tiger Center went out and set them on their feet," said Yuri Kolpak, head of the Hunting Department of the Khabarovsk Territory Government.

The program was launched in 2022, at the II International Tiger Conservation Forum in Vladivostok. The transfer of wild tigers is one of its most important stages. According to experts, none of the four tigers were captured on purpose. They came to people during the ongoing work carried out by inspectors of the hunting supervision of the Khabarovsk Territory to preserve wildlife and prevent conflict situations between large predators and humans.

It is specified that all the individuals were seized in different locations of the Khabarovsk Territory, which excludes closely related links between them.

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Sergey Aramilev, General Director of the Amur Tiger Center, announced on March 21 that the population of the Amur tiger in the Russian Federation is more than 750 individuals. The expert also added that the number of tigers decreased three years ago due to the effects of African swine fever.