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s ice-cold water quenches
this tigers thirst.

The tigress and her two cubs roam a fix the problem. Many conflict tigers
home range thats about 400 square are young. They have left their mother s
kilometres, more than the size of home range and are looking for their
Bloemfontein. Soon her son will leave, own territory, Dale says. They are
but her daughter will take over part of hungry and have not become good
this territory. Half of all tiger cubs die hunters yet. Relocation gives them a
young because they are sick, killed by second chance. Otherwise, a farmer
hunters, or orphaned. Cubs that survive would track down the tiger and shoot him.
leave their mum at about 18 months The researchers quickly weigh and
old, relying on the hunting skills they measure the tranquilised tiger. They
learned growing up. Sometimes a young fit a collar with a radio transmitter
male must travel far to find unclaimed around his neck. This will let Dale and
land with enough food. But the odds are his team keep track of him for at least
his journey will take him through areas three years.
where people live. New TerriTory
TroUBLeSHooTiNG Two hours later the tiger wakes up in a
husar / team husar (drinking); © lynn m. stone / nature picture library (amur leopard)
It is late winter when the male tiger cage bumping along a road in the back of a
© juniors / superstock (big picture); © tom & pat leeson / ardea (scratching); © lisa
leaves his mother s care. He wakes up truck. It stops about 240 kilometres from
from his nap and sniffs the remains of a the town and the cage gate opens. The
meal for any leftovers. Then he leans in wild cat is wary but eventually leaps out
to scratch against a tree, but he catches of the cage, kicking up snow as he bounds
his paw on something. He tries to pull towards the trees. Unfamiliar with the
away, making things worse. He has walked territory, he searches for signs of other
into a wire snare and the more he moves, tigers. He comes across a birch tree with
the tighter it gets. a strong odour. Another male sprayed the amur leopard
A little while later, he hears voices. tree and left scrape marks and urine on
People. They stay behind the trees and the ground to tell others the area is taken. Living side-by-side with Amur tigers
one of them raises a gun. The tiger roars Dale s team monitors the tiger from is another big cat, the Amur leopard.
at the sharp pain in his backside. Then a distance, picking up signals from the Only about 40 of these leopards exist
he starts to get dizzy, so he lies down radio collar. They hope he can find food, in the wild, on the border of Russia,
and falls asleep. He s been shot by a avoid other males, find his own territory China and North Korea. Efforts to help
researcher with a tranquiliser gun, and a local female. The tiger spots a deer. Amur leopards bounce back include
not a hunter. Unable to find enough food Melting snow drips from the trees, the new Land of the Leopard National
in the snowy forest, this tiger started masking his footsteps as he ambushes Park, which protects 2 850 square
killing livestock and dogs in a nearby his prey. kilometres of forest.
town. Dale and his team are called in to His odds just got a little better.

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