A remarkable event took place recently that went largely unnoticed by the world: tigers were reintroduced to Kazakhstan.
Tigers have lost much of their historic range, including Kazakhstan, where they’ve been extinct for more than 70 years. However, that might be about to change.
As part of a years-long effort to restore native habitats and wildlife in Kazakhstan, two Amur tigers have been released in the Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve. The tigers, a male and female from a wildlife sanctuary in the Netherlands, now inhabit a large, semi-natural enclosure within Ile-Balkhash. Their future offspring will be released into the reserve proper, so that they can become truly wild tigers.
The recent tiger reintroduction is the first of several planned for Kazakhstan. The goal is to have 50 wild tigers inhabiting Kazakhstan by 2035. These tiger reintroductions are part of a broader effort to restore the Ile-Balkhash region, which includes the recovery of native plant species, along with the large herbivores that form the tigers’ natural prey.
For more information, please read the WWF’s press release on this historic event.
The Jaguar 
This is quite a laudable conservation effort. I never knew they lost the species in the wild and had to embark on ex-situ conservation. Releasing them in the wild will be productive in the bit to repopulate them if they don’t face the problem of inbreeding and the inbreeding depression. Captive animals usually lose their wild instincts especially the hunting and predator escaping (if there’s one). Overall, it’s a laudable effort to return them to the wild.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, reintroducing an extinct species is extremely difficult, especially with intelligent predators like cats that need to learn how to hunt from their parents. It will be interesting to see how the authorities and conservationists in Kazakhstan help the Amur tiger cubs to learn how to be wild, but they must have a plan, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of restoring the habitat and having tigers brought over from Europe. I really hope that this reintroduction succeeds!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you for sharing such vital information. What great news, Amur tigers are so seriously endangered. How great for Kazakhstan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome! This is great news, and I hope that everything goes well for the tigers.
LikeLike