Siberian Tigers in Eastern Himalayas

After a gap of more than a decade India now has its first and only Siberian tiger couple in Darjeeling’s Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park. The rare and nearly extinct biggest tiger species has come from a faraway zoo in Cyprus under the exchange of animals programme to be bred in captivity. 

The last such Siberian tiger in the country had died of illness in 2011 at Nainital and the one in this zoo expired in 2007. In exchange, the zoological park has sent two Red Pandas to Pafos Zoo for which the park is famous.

Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park is the largest high-altitude zoo in the country. It has been successful in conservation breeding of 10 animals including Red Pandas, Snow Leopards and Blue Sheep, most of whom live in cold climate like the Siberian or Amur tigers.

Siberian Tigers are distinguished from other tiger subspecies by their orange coat with black stripes and thick fur.

Once it was roaming throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inhabits mainly in the Sikhote-Alin mountain region of Russian. But with only 400 left in the wild, this rare giant is in danger of extinction due to poaching and habitat loss.

Source: Himalayan News Chronicle