Beijing: Virile, canny and possessed with a boundless appetite for red meat, Kuzya, a 23-month-old Siberian tiger, would seem the perfect mascot for President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who had a personal hand in reintroducing Kuzya to the wild in the Russian Far East in May.

It turns out Kuzya, like Mr Putin, has territorial ambitions, which this week drew him across the frigid Amur River that separates Russia and China. His arrival set off a diplomatic incident of sorts when it became clear that "President Putin's Tiger," as one Russian newspaper put it, was facing possible peril on the Chinese side of the border.

Kuzya was released into the wild by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit:New York Times

On Friday, wildlife officials in China's far north-east were scrambling to ascertain Kuzya's whereabouts after his Russian minders, tracking him by radio transmitter, expressed concern that he could end up in the hands of poachers – not an unlikely outcome given the steep price a rare Siberian tiger can fetch on the Chinese black market.

Given the increasingly close relations between Moscow and Beijing, united against what both countries see as a growing challenge from the West, it appears Chinese officials are taking no chances with Kuzya's safety.