A female Amur tiger named "Umit", brought from Russia and released into the wild in Kazakhstan, has adapted to its territory in the reserve and is successfully hunting. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
At the Eastern Economic Forum, Sergei Aramilev, director general of the Amur Tiger Center, told RIA Novosti that Kazakhstan and Russia, under a program to restore the tiger population in the country, delivered four Amur tigers from the Khabarovsk region to the Balkhash area this summer.
The first animal released into the wild was Umit. According to Aramilev, she is so far living up to all expectations of specialists. "This is a very cautious animal, so it was prey that was very difficult to catch. The fact that she managed to catch such prey shows that she can hunt any animal in the area - wild boar, deer, or other ungulates," he said.
According to the expert, the tiger's movements are within the normal range for daily travel. She patrols an area about 80 kilometers in diameter. "So far, the female tiger is behaving normally. She is marking her territory and immediately trying to 'settle in'. She needs to explore the surroundings, see the location of objects, and memorize the terrain map. Tigers tend to choose places where they have successfully hunted before. Where there is more prey, they return more often," he noted.
He said the predator is under constant observation and has made no attempts to approach people. The expert noted that there are no settlements or any economic activity in the reserve area.