Oblivious to sticky international borders, Kuzya, the Siberian Tiger that was rescued as a cub by Russian President Vladimir Putin, apparently has returned from China to Russia's far east.

Kuzya created a bit of an international incident when he wandered cross the Sino-Russian border two months ago, swimming across the Amur River into China. Conservationists expressed concern that the tiger would become poacher prey.

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One of three rescued Siberian cubs, along with Ilona and Borya, that Putin released into the wild this May, Kuzya has shown little regard for the international border. He wears a tracking device that showed he came back to his Russian homeland across the frozen Amur River that divides the two countries.

No more than 450 Siberian tigers continue to prowl in the wild boreal forest of Russia's far east. The China side of the border harbors maybe 30 of these endangered animals due to poaching. Tiger parts are highly desired in China where people believe they hold medical power. A single dead tiger can bring in $10,000.

Putin has rescued and interacted with endangered animals as part of a public relation effort to soften his public person. He pulled the rope opening the enclosure that sent Kuzya of into the forest. Nobody realized Kuzya would take that journey to the tune of several hundred miles into China's northeastern Heilongjiang province.

Kuzya's travels are far from ended. Zhang Minghai, deputy chief of China's State Forestry Administration's Feline Research Center said, Kuzya was "very likely to visit China again as it marked the areas he visited, with urine, designating his territory."

The reason for Kuzya's fascination with the Chinese side of the Amur River region? "China has a sound forest ecosystem and plenty of food," Zhang said.

Kuzya is far from alone when it comes to Russian tigers released back into the wild entering Chinese territory, Another tiger, Ustin, released under the same animal protection protocol wandered into China a few weeks after Kuzya in late October and was credited with killing at least 15 goats on a Heixiazi Island farm.

Kuzya was said to have killed a few chickens during his journey, but no goats, according to media accounts. However, he dined mainly on wild boar, reports said.

Tagskuzya, Siberian Tiger, Conservation, endangered animals, amur river, sino-russian relations