Penza, 12 May 2021. PenzaNews. Amur tiger Samur, who had been kept in Penza zoo since 2015, died at the age of 17 after a long illness. This was stated in a message posted on the zoo's website on May 12.

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It recalls that the raptor, born in the Chelyabinsk zoo in 2004, was brought to Penza to be paired with tigress Konstantsia.

“During their life together they had seven tiger cubs. Samur was a great father – he always took great pleasure in interacting with the little ones. For the past month Samur was weak, but he still came up to the tigress’ enclosure to see Konstantsia,” the text said.

The report notes that Samur would always wait for a keeper with the food, like a cranky house cat at the window, and if the latter was late, the tiger would snort unhappily at him.

“Even in recent days, Samur always recognised the principal and spoke his own language to him,” the report adds.