Siberian Tiger Crosses 200-Km Stretch of Russian Forest to Meet Former Mate

In a tale that has touched hearts worldwide, two Amur tigers, Boris and Svetlaya, have been reunited in the Russian wilderness after being separated by nearly 200 kilometers. These majestic big cats, rescued as orphaned cubs from the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in 2012, have defied the odds to find their way back to each other.

Raised together in a special conservation program aimed at reducing human interaction, Boris and Svetlaya were prepared for life in the wild. The goal was to release them into their natural habitat when they reached 18 months old, which was successfully achieved in 2014 in the Pri-Amur region, as reported by The New York Times.

As part of a broader conservation strategy to increase the Amur tiger population, Boris and Svetlaya were separated by hundreds of kilometers. However, conservationists noticed atypical behavior from Boris. While most tigers tend to roam within a specific territory, Boris was moving in a remarkably straight line.
 

The "dedicated partner" traveled nearly 200 km for three years to reunite with his former mate, Svetlaya. Six months later, they are now parents of a litter of cubs.

According to reports, 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 effective as wild tigers at hunting, targeting the same prey and rarely killing livestock," explained Dale Miquelle, lead author from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). "This success shows that tigers, if given the proper isolation from humans and the chance to learn to hunt, can be successfully re-released into the wild."

The Amur tiger, also known as the Siberian tiger, is a magnificent subspecies native to the Russian Far East. However, due to threats like habitat loss, poaching, and human-tiger conflicts, these powerful creatures are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Netizens are stunned by the love story and have called it historic.