Support The Moscow Times!

Tatyana the Tigress: Kaliningrad's Secret Snowball-Rolling Star

It remains unclear how Tatyana came to embrace the unusual hobby. Pixabay

An Amur tigress residing in the Kaliningrad zoo has found the silver lining behind Russia's long, dark winters: snowballs worthy of the plumpest snowmen.

When giant snowballs first started popping up in Tatyana the tigress' enclosure, zoo employees assumed their colleagues had just been having some fun with the feline.

"When we first saw the snowballs — including some that could be used to build snowmen — we were convinced that they were the work of zoologists who had made them to entertain the animals," Yekaterina Mikhailova, the zoo's press secretary, was quoted as saying by Gazeta.ru on Sunday.

Ultimately, the veil of secrecy was lifted by surveillance footage. Tatyana has been caught on video during her snowball rolling frenzies, which only occur at night, according to zookeepers.

It remains unclear how Tatyana came to embrace this unusual hobby. Typhoon the tiger, another resident of the Kaliningrad zoo, has not shown any interest in adopting Tatyana's pastime.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more