A rare Siberian tiger released into the wild by Vladimir Putin has strayed into China and may be in danger, according to Chinese state media.

Russia informed Chinese forestry officials that the tiger, tagged with a tracking device, was observed in a nature preserve in Heilongjiang province, Xinhua news agency reported. Officials were removing possible traps and setting up more than 60 cameras in the hope of locating the tiger, it said.

The Russian president was photographed in May releasing the 19-month-old cub, named Kuzya, and two other Siberian tigers in a remote part of the Amur region.

The cubs had been found two years earlier starving in the Ussuri Taiga forest near the Russia-China border, Russian media reported. They were rehabilitated, taught to hunt, and eventually released back into the wild. The other tigers remain in the Amur region.

Russia adopted a national strategy to protect the endangered Amur tiger in July 2010. Putin has been personally involved in the promotion of conservation efforts.

Siberian tigers have not been found before in Luobei county, where Kuzya is believed to have strayed, Xinhua said.