Photos: Releasing Animals Back Into Their Habitats

Kazakh Ministry of Environment / Anadolu / Getty At the Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve, a female Amur tiger named Umit is released into its natural habitat in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on August 3, 2026. Umit (a Kazakh word for “hope”) was the first to be released out of four Amur (Siberian) tigers that were transferred from Russia to Kazakhstan. Hauke-Christian Dittrich / DPA / Getty Shortly before being released into the wild at the eastern end of the German island of Juist, a seal named Ernie peeks…