After 70 years, tigers are returning to Kazakhstan thanks to a historic species reintroduction project

They will roar back to Kazakhstan after a decades-long silence. The Amur tiger or Siberian tiger Panthera tigris altaica is about to be reintroduced into the country thanks to a historic project aimed at reviving a wild population that is now extinct.

It was started by the Kazakh authorities in the delta of the Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve, an area that misses the iconic predator. That is why the government of Kazakhstan decided to restore the ecosystem of the region with joint efforts.

The program saw the collaboration of the WWF and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and aims to create a population of around 50 wild tigers by 2035. To achieve the goal, the task was entrusted to a first couple Amur tigers that are now already found in Kazakhstan.

The two cats who come from a sanctuary in the Netherlands are called Bodhana and Kuma. The two tigers, male and female, were transferred to a large enclosure in the reserve. Here they will settle in and then be moved to a more comfortable area and, as we hope, they will mate.

Their cubs will be the very first specimens to come into the world and roam free in Kazakhstan, carrying on the mission. For 70 years there have been no wild tigers in Kazakhstan, but now the predator is about to take its first steps back into the wild.

This tiger relocation is a critical step not only in returning the big cat to its historic homeland, but also for revive an entire ecosystem” commented Stuart Chapman, leader of WWF Tigers Alive.

Daniyar Turgambayev, deputy minister of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, also stressed that it is “important that our biodiversity chain is restored and that the tiger that once lived in this area is reintroduced here.”

Alongside the reintroduction of the lost species, work will also be done on the reforestation of over 50 hectares with the planting of native trees. To ensure the success of the initiative, the local community that lives behind the reserve was also involved.

Protecting tigers must be everyone’s duty. It is hoped that the history of Amur tigers in Kazakhstan can be rewritten. However, it remains essential to assiduously combat the threats that have led to the extinction of the species, such as excessive hunting.