Two Amur tigers have arrived in Kazakhstan as part of a program to reintroduce the big cats to the country some 70 years after they were wiped out by hunters.
The Amurs, also known as Siberian tigers, arrived from the Netherlands at the Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve in south-eastern Kazakhstan on Monday.
Kuma (male) and Bodhana (female) will spend their lives in captivity, but their offspring will be released into the wild.
Other tigers will also be moved to Kazakhstan with the program aiming to have 50 wild tigers roaming the country by 2035.
Stuart Chapman, the leader of the tiger conservation program at the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), called their arrival a “monumental conservation milestone”.
“Tigers were persecuted and hunted to extinction in Kazakhstan 70 years ago. Unfortunately, this was common practice in many parts of their range,” he told TVP World.
“Sometimes wildlife gets a second chance, and bringing back the tiger’s roar to central Asia is so significant it’s almost unbelievable.”
The program was launched by the Kazakh government, with the support of WWF and the United Nations Development Programme.
The local community around the Kazakh nature reserve has also been heavily involved in the project.
In a statement published on Monday, WWF mentioned other conservation efforts that will be necessary to sustain the ecosystem.
This includes bringing back endangered species such as Bukhara deer and the Kulan (Asian wild donkey) and the reforestation of more than 50 hectares with native trees.
Kuma (male) and Bodhana (female) will spend their lives in captivity, but their offspring will be released into the wild.
Other tigers will also be moved to Kazakhstan with the program aiming to have 50 wild tigers roaming the country by 2035.
Stuart Chapman, the leader of the tiger conservation program at the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), called their arrival a “monumental conservation milestone”.
“Tigers were persecuted and hunted to extinction in Kazakhstan 70 years ago. Unfortunately, this was common practice in many parts of their range,” he told TVP World.
“Sometimes wildlife gets a second chance, and bringing back the tiger’s roar to central Asia is so significant it’s almost unbelievable.”
The program was launched by the Kazakh government, with the support of WWF and the United Nations Development Programme.
The local community around the Kazakh nature reserve has also been heavily involved in the project.
In a statement published on Monday, WWF mentioned other conservation efforts that will be necessary to sustain the ecosystem.
This includes bringing back endangered species such as Bukhara deer and the Kulan (Asian wild donkey) and the reforestation of more than 50 hectares with native trees.
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