Oct. 28, 2005 NEW YORK, NY (October 24, 2005)-- Scientists from
the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and their Russian
colleagues from the Russian Far East recently fitted three wild
40-day-old Siberian tiger cubs with tiny radio-collars, marking
the youngest wild tigers to be tracked by scientists. The
elastic collars, which eventually fall off as the tigers grow,
weigh just over five ounces and would fit on a large house cat.
They give researchers crucial insights into the needs of tiger
cubs and may help improve the survival and reproduction of this
largest of the cat species. Working near the Sikhote-Alin
Reserve, the researchers located the tiger's den by tracking a
radio-collared 13-year-old tigress named Lidya. Finding the cubs
required some caution, particularly in making sure Mom was not
home. The researchers waited until Lidya's radio signal
indicated that she had left the den site before searching for
the cubs, which they found in a collection of rocks on the slope
of a hill. Two of the cubs, wh