This video can be called “Four in striped swimsuits”. Unique shots of the Amur tiger family were received by the scientists of the “Land of the Leopard”. In the national park, a female of the Red Book cats brought her first litter to the deer watering place, where the cubs went for a swim. The finale of the event is captured in high quality using a camera trap.
A remotely activated camera installed in the forest, captured the young female of the Amur tiger (by the number T61F) bring three tiger cubs (6-7 month old) to the lake on a hot summer day.
“The appearance of tigers in this place is quite logical, because there are often a lot of deer near the water,” said Viktor Storozhuk, a researcher at the “Land of the Leopard” Federal State Budgetary Institution. “Ungulates are the basis of the diet of predators. Gathering places of these animals attract the tiger. But in this case, it’s likely not about hunting. You can see that the cubs are wet, most likely they were swimming. This is the first time that the Amur tigers have been recorded near the lake. Especially in a family group."
The touching video shows that the cubs have not had time to dry after a morning bath and are curiously studying the camera trap, going up to it and sniffing it. The mom seems to support children's curiosity and is resting contentedly on the sidelines.
The scientists know that the tigress T61F was born at the end of 2016 and has already managed to produce offspring, which brings joy to nature conservationists. At the same time, the plumpness and "pep" of the rare cats are evident. Tigresses with cubs rarely get caught on camera traps in the summer, so this new data is of particular value to the science department.
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Photo surveillance is one of the most effective non-contact methods for studying such rare and secretive animals as the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard. The data obtained with its help allows not only to compile an individual passport for each cat, but also to conduct scientific research, as well as monitor the state of populations.
The Amur tiger is the largest and northernmost tiger subspecies on the planet. The main range is located in the south of the Russian Far East. An independent group of these wild cats lives in the forests of southwestern Primorye, where it is under reliable protection in the national park "Land of the Leopard". Here, 400 automatic cameras are diligently watching the cats, forming the largest network of camera traps in Russia. According to the latest data, 31 adult Amur tigers and 10 cubs have been recorded in the protected areas of the “Land of the Leopard”. The highest population density of the Amur tiger in the Far East is found here.