Wild Siberian tiger family first caught on camera in China

The wild Siberian tiger mom and her child are caught on a camera at Hunchun Nature Reserve of Jilin province. (Photo: chinajilin.com.cn）

(ECNS) -- A Siberian tiger mother was caught on camera accompanied by her cub at a nature reserve in northeast China's Jilin province, according to xinhuanet.com.

This is the first video clip of a wild Siberian tiger family in China, even though some people have claimed they had seen an adult tiger with three cubs in the same area last November.

The clip, shot at 03: 36am on July 27, shows the female tiger passing the camera in a hurry, followed by a cub who lingered behind momentarily, Lang Jianmin, a director at Hunchun National Nature Reserve, said on Wednesday.

The cub was later verified as a female, Lang added.

The video clip proved some foreign opinions wrong in believing that the number of wild Siberian tigers could not increase in China, the director noted. "It's hopeful that more tigers will settle down in the reserve."

Hunchun Nature Reserve, located on northeast China's border with Russia and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), was established in 2001 for wild Siberian tigers and Amur leopards.

The Siberian tiger is one of the world's rarest mammals with less than 500 remaining in the wild. China has an estimated 20 such tigers present in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces.