Who doesn’t like exploring the world? Every time you travel to a new destination, there is something new to experience, new to feel, eat, drink and what not. Travel is indeed fun, especially if you are wandering in a massive country like China. The country is so big that a foreigner would often feel overwhelmed by the amazing sightseeing opportunities. I live in Suzhou and in May 2018 I travelled to Harbin via Shanghai. I have already been writing articles from my Harbin trip and have posted a couple of Harbin travel reviews (part 1 and part 2).
In this post I’d share memories from my visit to the Harbin Siberian Tiger Reserve park.
The park is a beautiful tiger habitat to experience China’s Save Tiger Project from the very close.
The post is aimed at serving as a review of the Harbin tiger park. More than 30 pictures of Siberian tigers are included in the post for your reference – hopefully, you’d like them. 🙂
If you are interested to know more about travelling in the mainland China, here are some of the relevant posts-
- Chinese train guide- China High Speed Rail (Fast Bullet Train) Guide (Shenyang to Suzhou),
- China bus guide – Chinese Intercity Bus Travel,
- Flight booking guide- Qunar.com Flight Booking Review.
Here is the original unedited video that I recorded at the Harbin tiger park-
Be informed that Google Maps doesn’t work in China, and using Baidu Map will help you a lot (if you know basic Mandarin Chinese).
What is Siberian tiger or Amur Tiger?
Well, the Siberian tiger, now an endangered species, is a reddish-rusty tiger population that primarily inhabits the Sikhote Alin mountain range located in the eastern part of Russia. The tigers can also be found in some of the selected places in northern China, Japan and Korea. You can of course find them in the tiger zoo in quite a few other countries as well.
The Siberian tiger is also known as the Amur Tiger (Panthera Tigris Altaic).
Moreover, depending on the geographic location, the Amur tiger may also be known as Korean Tiger, Manchurian tiger, etc.
Let me show you a photo about how Harbin city looked like in the morning when I started to visit the tiger park- it was a day full of sunshine, temperature was nearly 20’C, and there wasn’t any chance of the rain.
Where is Harbin Siberian Cat Amur Tiger Habitat Park
The Harbin Siberian Tiger Reserve (东北虎林园, Dōngběi hǔ lín yuan) is located in the northeastern part of the Harbin city. The park is a bit far from the city, however, there is a bus stop just at the gate of the park (no subway connection).
If you can use the Baidu Map to find directions to the park – just search 东北虎林园.
The park is known by a variety of names. If you translate the Chinese characters (东北虎林园) to English, it’d mean “Northeast Tiger Forest Park”. However, locals/and foreigners often refer the park as the Harbin tiger park, Harbin tiger zoo, etc. The park’s official nameplate displays the name “Siberia Tiger Park”- here is the example proof-
Entry ticket fee to the Harbin tiger park
Well, there are different types of tiger park tickets depending on the type of services.
I bought an RMB 130 ticket that was mainly an 80-minute long day safari.
You can pay for ticket using cash or WeChat (surprisingly, Alipay was not accepted at the tiger reserve ticket counter).
Let me now show you a group of Siberian tigers-
Here is a tiger coming towards our safari van to grab the meat-
Timings of tiger zoo
The park is usually open throughout the day. But the safari had fixed timings.
Here is the official poster that I clicked in Harbin-
As you can see, the 80-minute safari start timings are- 10.30am, 1.30pm and 3.10pm.
save tiger project
There have been tremendous efforts for conserving tiger population in China and elsewhere. If you wish to obtain detailed save tiger information, here are a couple of links for project tiger –
siberian tiger habitat
Well, there were both open and closed tiger habitat in the Harbin zoo.
During the rainy seasons, the tigers would often spend more time in the shelter. If it’s a sunny day, the tigers will be out in the open.
In Harbin, the tiger habitat gates are controlled electronically. So, when our van was entering a particular shelter area, the gates would automatically open. After the van has finished entering, the gate would close automatically. There weren’t any safety issues.
siberian tiger facts
Well, the big Siberian tigers are an interesting species. So, it’s worthwhile to know a basic tiger fact file.
Let me tell you a few Siberian tiger facts that I observed in the Harbin Siberian Tiger Reserve-
- The Siberian tiger love to stay in the group- they looked quite social beings,
- They absolutely love meat,
- They never chased our safari van – maybe they are peace-loving animals as long as they don’t feel threatened,
- There were posters displayed at the park, confirming that the Siberian tigers are an endangered species,
- The Siberian tigers come in different colors, I saw the white and reddish,
- They love playing with water.
tiger predators
In China, poaching of a tiger is an illegal offence, so I’m of the mind that coming across the tiger predators is virtually impossible for a tourist in the mainland.
However, when you explore the tiger park, you’ll see so many predator tigers. 🙂 The predatory tendency is most visible when you show them meat – their favorite diet.
A little indication of the meat, and the tiger would jump on the vehicle. Here is one of those jumping pictures of biggest tiger species-
biggest tiger in the world
This could be a good general knowledge question. Do you know which tiger is the biggest tiger in the world?
Fret not, the Siberian tigers are the biggest tiger in the world. They indeed looked very powerful and strong, particularly when they jumped on our safari van.
why are Siberian tigers endangered?
Are Siberian tigers endangered? Yes, unfortunately the big Siberian cats are endangered.
In fact, the number of the Siberian tiger in the 1940s has reached below 50 – they were almost extinct. Due to consistent efforts of the governments, particularly in Russia, the number of the Siberian tiger has gone up.
However, the Siberian tigers still remain endangered. There are so many reasons about why Siberian tigers are endangered. Some of the main causes are-
- Hunting,
- Poaching,
- Loss of Habitat,
- Black market,
- Used in the traditional medicine.
siberian tiger size
A full-grown male tiger would be nearly 2.7-3.3m long, whereas the females could be around 2.4-2.7m long. An adult tiger may weigh more than 650 pounds and would stretch nearly 11 feet long. However, in general, the Siberian tiger size varies.
white tiger species
At the Harbin tiger park, spotting a white Siberian tiger is also quite possible. Let me show you a photo of the white tiger species that I clicked in a closed tiger habitat-
how many siberian tigers are left in the world?
I tried to find the Siberian tiger population from the online records. Can you guess how many Siberian tigers are left in the world? It seems that the number of Amur tiger is somewhere less than 500. It’s really a low number, and no wonder that the Siberian tigers are considered to be endangered.
are siberian tigers extinct?
Of course not, they do exist – I’ have already been showing you Siberian tiger pictures. However, the Siberian tiger population remains critically low.
In summary, if you are travelling to Harbin, I think a visit to the Harbin Siberian Tiger Park is a must.
If you want to take beautiful pictures of Siberian tigers, explore the tiger habitat, or just feed the Amur tigers from a safari, you are recommended to visit the tiger park. Not to mention, there are playgrounds for kids and ample of space for picnics. Moreover, at the end of the safari, you’ll also have a chance to play with a tiger cub for an additional fee of RMB 50. You can literally touch and hold the cub in your hands- you’d love it all over here!!
That’s all in this post about the biggest tiger in the world.
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Wish you a great time visiting Harbin Siberian Cat Amur Tiger Habitat Park!
Cheers!
Last updated: Thursday, June 14, 2018