Like all young animals, Siberian tiger cubs Kazimir and Arina are energetic and enjoy playful roughhousing.
But after a few months, these rare cubs have grown too large and rambunctious for Ben Warren, the animal expert raising them.
Ben, the Head of Large Carnivores at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent, stepped in to hand-raise the cubs after their mother rejected them at birth.
In the early days, the cubs needed feeding every two hours and constant supervision. This meant many nights of them cuddling up and sleeping at the foot of Ben’s bed.
However, now that the cubs are five months old, they’re no longer the small and cuddly companions they once were. Last week, they moved into their new enclosure at Howletts and made their first public appearance.
Arina, the female cub, was born with brittle bones and underwent surgery to fix a limp. Experts plan to further correct the issue by pinning her leg when she’s older.
Kazimir, her brother, is healthy, and there are hopes that he may one day be reintroduced to the wild, where fewer than 400 Siberian tigers remain.
Damian Aspinall, the owner of Howletts and founder of the Aspinall Foundation, hopes Kazimir will join the foundation’s “Back to the Wild” initiative.
Aspinall has even written to the Russian ambassador in hopes that President Putin will support efforts to return endangered Siberian tigers to their natural habitat.
Though Ben will miss his night-time companions, he’s proud of the cubs and their growth. They’ve certainly left their mark — through their big personalities or perhaps those sharp claws.
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