Siberian Tiger Travels 200 Km Across Russian Forest To Reunite With Former Mate

In a heartwarming tale of love and conservation, two Amur tigers, Boris and Svetlaya, have been reunited in the Russian wilderness after being separated by nearly 200 kilometres. Rescued as orphans from the Sikhote-Alin mountains in 2012, Boris and Svetlaya were raised together in a conservation program with minimal human contact. The goal was to release them back into the wild at 18 months old, which was successfully done in 2014 in the Pri-Amur region, a historic habitat for Amur tigers, the New York Times reported. 

As part of the conservation project, the tigers were tracked and separated by hundreds of kilometres to promote the spread of their population. However, Boris had other plans. Conservationists were intrigued to discover that Boris was exhibiting unusual movement patterns. Unlike typical tigers, which tend to roam within a specific territory, Boris was moving in a remarkably straight line. In a stunning display of determination, Boris travelled an incredible 200 km for nearly three years to reunite with Svetlaya. Six months later, their love story culminated in the birth of a litter of cubs.

See the picture here:

If Humans Can Go Miles for Love, So Can Tigers 😀
In Russia's Sikhote-Alin mountains, two orphaned unrelated Amur tiger cubs, Boris and Svetlaya, were rescued as fragile infants. Raised together in a semi-wild environment, scientists prepared them for life in the wilderness,… pic.twitter.com/RHlSiL6nLe

— Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) December 15, 2024

Conservationists hope the love story between Boris and Svetlaya might indicate a new, successful chapter in tiger repopulation efforts.

"The data demonstrated that orphaned cubs, raised in captivity and released, were just as good as wild tigers at hunting, targeting the same types of wild prey, and very rarely killing livestock," said Dale Miquelle, lead author from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

"This success demonstrates that tigers with proper isolation from humans and provided the opportunity to learn to hunt, can be successfully re-released into the wild. But this process requires great caution and attention to details in preparing cubs for this journey," Miquelle added. 

The Siberian tiger, also known as the Amur tiger, is a majestic and powerful subspecies of tiger that is native to the Russian Far East. Unfortunately, due to various threats such as habitat loss, poaching, and human-tiger conflict, the Siberian tiger is listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.