Home News Cinderella’s Fairytale Continues

Cinderella’s Fairytale Continues

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

There aren’t many happy stories in conservation but the tale of one Amur tiger has captured our hearts this Christmas.

In February 2012, a tiny Amur cub was found orphaned in the wild, freezing she was suffering from frostbite and lost the end of her tail as a result. Aged about 5 months and exhausted by her ordeal her chances of survival were slim. But with expert help and generous donations from DSWF and  TigerTime  supporters, Cinderella (as they named her) began to recover. She grew strong and healthy and was taught to hunt and it was decided that she would be ready for release back into the wild in the spring of 2013.

On May 9, 2013 Cinderella was released in the Bastak Nature Reserve. Monitored closely for the first few weeks good news started to flow. She had been seen hunting successfully and hopes were high for her continued survival. In January 2014 camera traps pictured Cinderella and a male Amur tiger – she had met her Prince Charming!

Roaming free in a protected area, hunting successfully and seen in the company of other tigers, Cinderella’s story seemed too good to be true.

“This December we received an amazing camera trap photo of Cinderella with two young cubs. Having followed the story of this little, lost cub from the beginning, seeing her healthy and free and as a mother has been one of the most rewarding tiger conservation stories we’ve ever been part of,” says TigerTime manager, Vicky Flynn.

“Thank you to all our TigerTime supporters who contributed to the international appeal for funds to save Cinderella in 2012/13 and to all the experts in Russia and around the world who worked so tirelessly to make what could have been a sad end for an orphan into something closer to a fairytale.”

But, this is not the end of Cinderella’s story. With two small cubs to protect through the freezing Russian winter she will need all her skills to keep them alive and the unfailing protection of the rangers who brave sub-zero temperatures to keep the poachers at bay.

Please help us continue this amazing story of survival by supporting our work in the Russian Far East. With as few as 450 Amur tigers left in the wild protecting them has never been more important.

Drag Read