In the end of January the state nature reserve «Bastak» celebrated its 20th anniversary.
By the birthday of the Specially Protected Territory there were summed up the results of the contest for the best nicknames for kittens of the famous couple of tigers – Zolushka (Cinderella) and Zavetniy (Cherished).
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We should remind that the tiger Zolushka (Cinderella) was released to the reserve in 2012, the tiger had been found in the south of the Primorskiy region in a state of extreme exhaustion. The young predator, the destiny of which had been watched by many residents of Primorye, passed a rehabilitation course in the «Tiger» Center», and the result of that was the fact that she recovered, but not only, as she was able to find a family. Her chosen one became the lone Tiger Zavetniy (Cherished), which had been living on the territory of “Bastak».
And the striped predators became parents in September of 2015. Zolushka (Cinderella) gave birth to two cubs, which had no nicknames before. The first time the offspring of the famous tigers fell into the lenses of camera traps in December of the last year. There had been suggested about 160 variants of nicknames for the tiger kittens, the best of which had been chosen by online voting. The most part of voices were given to the nicknames Prince and Vostok (East). These are the names of the striped cubs now.
The «Bastak» reserve was founded with the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation the 28th of January, 1997. It covers the south-eastern spurs of the Bureya ridge, the northern edge of the Sredneamurskaya lowland, a site of the Amur River valley. The total area of the Specially Protected Natural Area makes 127 094, 5 hectares. It occupies 3,5% of the territory of the Jewish Autonomous Region and provides a significant contribution to maintaining the ecological balance of the region's territory.
The traces of Amur tiger have been noticed in the reserve from the year of 2006 annually, and in 2016 the number of this rare species increased to five individuals on the territory of the Specially Protected Natural Areas.
Photo and video from the website of the Bastak reserve