Endangered Amur tigers meet for first time at Woburn Safari Park

Amur tiger pair Minerva and Dmitri met face to face for the first time at Woburn Safari Park this month in front of enthusiastic visitors, raising hopes they could breed under the species program endangered in the park.

Dmitri, a five-year-old male tiger, who has been in the park since 2022, met Minerva (also called Vera) this month at the park and “could be seen greeting each other affectionately and relaxing together shortly after their introduction initial, just a few meters from the cars of enthusiastic visitors.

Woburn Safari Park said keepers were “delighted” that the pair had “liked each other so much” and hope they can successfully breed.

Vera, 12, is ranked as one of the most important female tigers in Europe’s captive tiger population, having already successfully raised cubs who themselves had offspring, “continuing this important lineage” of endangered tigers. disappearance, according to the park.

A video from Woburn Safari Park shows the pair meeting, playing and relaxing together in the Kingdom of the Carnivores section of the park, where visitors can spot them throughout the summer.

Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, are the world’s largest cats and are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with a stable population of 265 to 486 individuals in the Russian Far East and a small number in China and possibly North Korea. Credit: Woburn Safari Park via Storyful