Research overview: rehabilitation and release of orphan Amur tigers

In the Russian Far East, orphaned and conflict-involved Amur tiger cubs have been rehabilitated and released back into the wild, including into areas where tigers had become scarce, offering a distinctive model of reintroduction. This overview surveys research on these efforts, which involve raising cubs with minimal human habituation, ensuring they can hunt, and monitoring them after release by satellite collar. Studies track survival, dispersal, breeding, and any tendency toward conflict with people or livestock, evaluating whether rehabilitated tigers can establish normal lives in the wild. Some released tigers have settled and reproduced, including contributing to range expansion. Researchers assess the techniques that maximize success and the risks of releasing human-reared predators. The overview frames Amur tiger rehabilitation as an innovative conservation tool that simultaneously addresses animal welfare and population recovery, demonstrating that carefully managed individual tigers can be returned to bolster wild populations.