Russian
president releases two tigers into nature reserve in 'environmental special
operation' but third proves more reluctant
The Guardian, Alec Luhn in Moscow, Thursday 22 May 2014
Vladimir Putin in Zhelundinsky nature reserve |
The Russian
president, Vladimir Putin, left, visits the Zhelundinsky nature reserve in the
Amur region of Russia. Photograph: Itar-Tass/Barcroft Media
Vladimir
Putin has never been shy of co-opting wild animals for photo opportunities, and
the Russian president was on hand to help release three orphaned tigers into
the wild.
Or rather,
release two orphaned tigers into the wild. While male tigers Kuzya and Borya
took off into the forest of the Amur region nature reserve as soon as Putin
pulled a rope to open their cages, their sister, Ilona, refused to leave. Putin
banged the cage with a sapling wedged through the links of the chain fence
around the enclosure but to no avail.
Russian
television trumpeted the president's escapade on Thursday as an
"environmental special operation".
Widely
renowned for his bare-chested hunting, fishing and horseback riding photo
sessions, Putin rarely misses a chance to boost his macho image with a
high-octane stunt, having soared through the skies in a fighter jet and
descended to the bottom of the sea in a research submarine.
The
president was in the Amur region, on the border with China, to look at homes
built for victims of last year's flooding. The trip follows his visit to
Beijing, where Putin pushed through a $400bn gas supply contract that was years
in the making.
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