A tiger cub in the Seaside Safari Park. File photoKHABAROVSK, Jan 14 Two Red Book Amur tiger cubs found dead in the Khabarovsk Territory under the porch of a private house in December last year died of exhaustion, the Amur Tiger Center said after an examination. Two dead cubs found on December 15, 2021 by residents under the porch of a house in the village of Shumny, Vyazemsky municipal district. They looked to be three or four months old, they were very thin — «with protruding bones and hollow legs.»
"The kids died as a result of extreme exhaustion, which launched irreversible consequences in the body. There are no injuries or gunshot wounds. The reason for the long starvation was that, left without a mother, the cubs were unable to get their own food. In an attempt to keep warm, they climbed under the porch of the house, where they eventually died", the center reports.
It is reported that they could be left without a mother for three reasons: either she died at the hands of poachers, or she died of natural causes , or went on a long hunt, and after a certain time, driven by hunger, the tiger cubs set off to look for her in deep snow. tiger cub»Wildlife is harsh, and one should not overestimate the maternal instinct. Yes, it works flawlessly when meeting with the enemy, but when the attention of a tigress is distracted by hunting, she can lose control over the cubs,» the center explained. The Amur tiger is one of the rarest predators of the planet, is listed in the International Red Book. According to experts, as of autumn 2021, the total number of these predators in the Russian Federation exceeds 600 individuals. In Russia, in the wild, the species lives only in the Far East.