Russia's Tiger Day celebrates tiger heroes

Tiger rangers were awarded with diplomas signed by Russian President, Vladimir Putin, at the welcome reception to Russia's tiger day celebrations. The diplomas were presented by Konstantin Chuichenko, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the “Amur Tiger” Centre.

Among those awarded diplomas were officers of the regional Wildlife Management and Hunting Departments of Primorsky and Khabarovsky Provinces. These rangers have topped WWF Russia’s annual ratings for the most effective rangers for tiger habitat protection and increasing prey numbers in the tiger’s home range.

“These are the real heroes, whose work is often invisible, extremely difficult and essential for the protection of our big cats” "It is critically important for the state to support and encourage the work of wildlife protection.” - Pavel Fomenko - Coordinator of the Species program of the WWF Russia Amur branch

Russia celebrates its Tiger Day on September 29th. This year about 20, 000 people gathered in Vladivostok over the preceding weekend, September 27-28, to participate in the activities.

“Sikhote-Alinsky Nature Reserve is the largest nature reserve in the tiger’s range, and special attention should be paid to its protection. " - Dmitry Gorshkov - Director of Sikhote-Alinsky Nature Reserve