The former Russian-born Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl serves Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin as a Tiger ambassador. The 59-year-old is by Putin as ambassador for the protection of the Amur tiger appointed, reported the Moscow state news agency Ria Novosti. Vienna’s former chief diplomat is helping the Center for the Protection of the Amur Tiger with international issues, said the facility’s general director, Sergei Aramilev, in Vladivostok on the Pacific, according to Ria Novosti.
As Foreign Minister, Kneissl once danced with Putin at her weddingcurtsied to the President and international criticism In June, she said at the international economic forum in St. Petersburg that she was happy to be able to start her work a new chance and a new life in Russia to have.
The Amur tiger, also known as the Siberian tiger, is the largest big cat in the world. Kneissl had already announced at the economic forum in Vladivostok in September 2022 that she would like Sponsorships for the wild cats Aramilew said that they were now looking for ways for Kneissl to help the population in general and individual animals. According to him, Kneissl had already donated money, which was used to buy nine camera traps for the Laso Nature Reserve in Primorsky Krai.
In 2026, the Russki Island near Vladivostok will also be home to the Opening of a safari park planned to keep Amur tigers that can no longer be released into the wild. The tiger is protected but still falls victim to poachers.
Authorities recently reported a growing population thanks to state-funded protection programs. Russia has doubled the number of its Amur tigers to almost 750 in the past ten years, it said. Putin himself also repeatedly portrays himself as the top animal rights activist in the world’s largest country by area. (dpa)
