The Primorsky Safari Park was created in 2007 through the efforts of Dmitry Mezentsev, who became its director, and a group of like-minded people. The main goals of the park are to help and rehabilitate animals in Primorsky Krai that cannot live in the wild, and to provide environmental education.

It's a landscape park: here you can watch animals in a forest area that has a beautiful terrain. The park covers a total of 16 hectares.

The Safari Park participates in the Eurasian Association of Zoos breeding program to help preserve Amur (Siberian) tigers. Three adults live here: Amur, his sister Taiga, and tigress Ussuri. Amur and Ussuri have three babies: Sherkhan was born first, followed by Amba and Vlada in 2021.

Contrary to popular belief, tigers are not that dangerous to humans: they never attack first. The tiger gets aggressive only in response, for example, to a hunter who has wounded it. Tigers are also capable of the most unusual friendships: the story of the friendship between Amur and a goat named Timur made headlines around the world.

The enclosures are separated from each other, which helps the animals feel as close to the wild as possible. 

The African lions, which are four males, have been given a large, beautiful stretch of valley forest. The mane is a colorful distinguishing feature of lions: other modern felines do not grow it. Lions are a vulnerable species, while the Amur tigers have an even worse conservation status: they are an endangered species.

When these types of cats mate, their offspring are hybrids called ligers. And when a ligress mates with a lion, their offspring are called liligers. Such hybrids can't be found in the wild, but under human supervision and, in particular, in the Primorsky Safari Park, you may see these unique felines.

Visitors can watch the graceful cats from safe platforms. The park has decks that are up to four meters high so the animals can't jump over them.

The Safari Park is home to two leopards: a male Velikoross and a female Rona. They are kept separately: the breeding of the rarest cats should only take place through the environmental protection program, which the park participates in. Their time to breed has not yet come, so the leopards enjoy the vast area given to them alone.

The Canadian cougar is a solitary predator. Even in the wild, it lives alone, except when caring for kittens. The cougar hunts at night, but like all cats, it is curious: it's immediately interested in a foreign object in its territory, a video camera!

Compared to 300-kg tigers or 80-kg cougars, lynxes can be considered tiny: they weigh no more than 30 kilograms. There are five adults living in the park, and they enjoy playing with each other.

We hope you've also enjoyed looking at these different types of felines!

We express our gratitude to the staff of the Primorsky Safari Park and personally to the director Dmitry Mezentsev for the help in organizing the shooting process

Photos and videos by Sergey Semenov and Olga Shutova

17 March 2023