Russia’s PM Putin gets a Siberian tiger cub for his 56th birthday

by Yuliya Talmazan | October 10, 2008 at 09:07 am

106 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

What is the deal with Vladimir Putin and tigers lately? Just a month ago, Purin “rescued” a journalist crew from a tiger attack by shooting the beast with a tranquilizer gun while on a trip in East Russia. Of course many believed that the “rescue” was nothing but a pre-staged demonstration of Russian PM’s “macho” status and power (see previous NP coverage here). Today, Putin was presented with a cute blue-eyed tiger cub for his 56th birthday. The cub belongs to the rare Siberian tiger species, and is just 2-month-old. Despite the cub’s utter cuteness, Putin is planning to give her to a local zoo, as he obviously does not have the right environment and the time to take care of her. He is also not telling who actually gave him the cub. While I am against giving cubs of endangered species to anyone as a gift, I have to admit Mr. Putin is one lucky man because getting a chance to keep a tiger cub at home, if only for a few days, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The two-month-old female Siberian tiger cub, a rare species native to northeastern Asia, will eventually be housed in a zoo or wildlife reserve.

Mr Putin was photographed stroking the 20lb cat - he has yet to decide between the names Mashenka and Milashka - which lay in a wicker basket with a tiger-print cushion on the verandah of his Moscow residence.

Mr Putin already has a labrador dog called Koni, which accompanies him to meetings with world leaders - but Koni and the cub have yet to be introduced.