Siberian Tigers Grab at Live Chickens Tossed at Them to Tourists’ Delight in China (PHOTOS)

It was a rare and amusing sight for tourists to see so many tigers up close, making a grab at their food, local media reported.

The Chinese tiger reserve in the Heilongjiang province houses more than 800 Siberian tigers. The park, which is also a breeding centre for this endangered species, uses live animals like chicken and steer to train tigers to hunt.

The Siberian tiger or the Amur tiger is one of the world’s most critically endangered species found mainly in Russia. The species faced the threat of extinction and was almost wiped out from the wild during the Russian Civil War in the early years of the twentieth century.

However, over the past few decades, conservation and breeding of the Siberian tigers has helped repopulate them in substantial numbers. At the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin alone about 100 Siberian tiger cubs were born in 2007.

Siberian tigers approach a keeper's car as they wait to be fed at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, Heilongjiang province Dec. 27, 2011. REUTERS/Sheng Li

Visitors watch from a bus as Siberian tigers try to catch a chicken at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, Heilongjiang province Dec. 27, 2011. REUTERS/Sheng Li

Siberian tigers fight for a chicken at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, Heilongjiang province Dec. 27, 2011. REUTERS/Sheng Li

Siberian tigers fight at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, Heilongjiang province Dec. 27, 2011. REUTERS/Sheng Li

A Siberian tiger clings to wood logs at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, Heilongjiang province Dec. 27, 2011. More than 800 Siberian tigers are currently living in the park, which is also a breeding centre for this endangered species. REUTERS/Sheng Li

Siberian tigers chase a young steer at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang province, May 29, 2007. The park uses live animals to train tigers. The tigers successfully caught and killed the young steer. REUTERS

A Siberian Tiger cub yawns in an enclosure at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang province April 23, 2007. More than 100 tiger cubs were born in this park in 2007. REUTERS