Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin received a rare Ussuri tiger cub as a birthday gift from an anonymous donor. Putin plans to put the tiger cub in a zoo or wildlife preserve.
Russian television
showed pictures of Putin petting the 2-month-old
Ussuri Tiger Cub at his residence outside Moscow. The cub was seen in a wicker basket. Putin celebrated his 56th birthday this week on Tuesday.
He invited journalists over to his house and showed them his birthday gift.
Putin also has a Labrador retriever dog named Koni, who accompanies him during meetings with world leaders.
Putin plans to put the cub in a zoo or wildlife reserve. He is planning to call the female cub tiger either Mashenka or Milashka.
Putin shows a keen interest in animals especially in the preservation efforts. In August of this year, when he visited a wildlife preserve in Russia’s Far East, he helped
save a man when a female tiger tried to attack a doctor. Putin shot the Ussuri tiger with a tranquilizer gun. Putin then helped put a collar on the tiger with a GPS system to track its progress.
Ussuri tiger, also known as a Siberian Amur or Manchurian tiger, are endangered and only about 400 of them survive in the wild. Russians are trying to help them grow in population.
Putin Receives Tiger Cub For His Birthday
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