Stuart Chapman held his breath as he watched the extraordinary video his colleague sent him. On the screen, he saw an Amur tiger walk into frame with several cubs following close behind.
Chapman, the initiative lead for WWF International’s tiger program, has worked in tiger and wildlife conservation for more than 30 years. The video promised something Chapman had never seen before.
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“I literally sat there holding my breath, counting one, two, three, four,” Chapman told The Dodo. “I was like, ‘Well, have I miscounted?’ And then when the fifth one comes out … I was just stunned.”
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Five Amur tiger cubs and their mother moseyed along a trail in Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park (NCTLNP). Four of the cubs follow closely behind Mama, while the fifth dillydallies before lumbering into frame.
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The footage, captured in November 2025 in northeast China near the Russian border, features the largest number of Amur tigers ever seen together at once — and not just on film.
“We couldn’t find anyone with any field observations having seen that many,” Chapman said. “We did some digging around and none of the field biologists could recall having ever heard of an Amur tiger with five cubs.”
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Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, depending on where they live, typically give birth to one to four cubs. Chapman was shocked by the fifth in the video, and by how big and healthy each cub looked.
Their size indicated that Mama has fed herself and five growing babies with local food sources, and that these 6- to 8-month-old cubs have survived past the first 90 days, notoriously the most precarious time for new tiger cubs.
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Watching the clip was essentially witnessing conservation in action.
Back in the 1990s, when Chapman began his conservation career, there were maybe 15 individual tigers in that part of the world.
About 20 years ago, 13 countries with tiger populations dedicated more resources to rebuilding the low numbers. Today, an estimated 70 tigers live in that area, Chapman wrote in a LinkedIn post about the video.
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The trail camera that captured the six Amur tigers is a small part of those efforts.
“These cameras also act as security cameras,” he said. Park authorities can spot poachers instantly and stop them before they harm wildlife.
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After watching the video and marveling at the beauty of this particular tiger family, Chapman has a renewed sense of optimism about these big cats, and conservation in general.
“The recovery of tigers in China actually mirrors what’s also happening for pandas,” Chapman said, “what’s also happening for some of the rare Tibetan wildlife … There are recoveries of species that were extremely rare 30 years ago, and tigers [are] part of that recovery story.”
If you would like to contribute to WWF International’s conservation efforts, you can donate through their website. 
Trail Camera Captures Rare Footage Of Animal Who Hasn’t Been Seen In 80 Years“It was a fantastic surprise!”