An endangered orphan Amur tiger cub saved from poachers in Russian Far East

The cub was trying to hunt in the taiga but due to inexperience was doomed to failure. Had wildlife specialists not intervened, he was likely to have died. 

'The tiger cub is very active and put up a fight,' said  Vladimir Vasilyev, head of the the Primorye wildlife protection service. 

It took three days to track him. 

The cub will now go to a rehabilitation centre before being released back into the wild. 

Experts think the cub is the brother of a six-month-old tigress rescued from a poachers' trap ten days earlier in a nearby location. 

She was badly injured by the trap and needed surgery in Arsenyev town to remove two claws after suffering severe damage to her paw. She was said to be in a 'weak' condition but is now undergoing rehabilitation in Ussuriysk. 

It was not immediately clear why the mother had died, but poaching continues to be a threat despite huge efforts from the Russian and Chinese governments along with voluntary wildlife groups to save the endangered species. Estimates suggest around 450 of the creatures remain in the wild. 

But up to 50 Amur tigers are slaughtered illegally by poachers each year despite efforts to crackdown on hunting. The species remain on the endangered list.