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As the Amur tigers released into the wild by Vladimir Putin in May in eastern Siberia are accused of eating domesticated and wild animals in China, we look back on the Russian president's long and sometimes illustrious association with the animal kingdom.
Putin likes to present himself as a man of action, whether he's electronically tagging tigers...
Measuring polar bears...
Comforting leopards...
Feeding elks...
Or tagging Beluga whales...
Never more so when he got very involved in a study of cranes.
Don't believe that's him? Here's a close-up.
Sometimes this longstanding association can get a bit bizarre, like that time he shook hands with a walrus.
Or hung out with a dolphin.
He's a keen fisherman.
And it was while on holiday that perhaps the most famous photos of any world leader alive today were taken.
(And just to prove Putin dresses for the occasion.)
The Russian president is an avowed lover of dogs.
But the jury is still out on his feelings towards chicks.
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More: [The curious case of Vladimir Putin and the Nazi-Soviet pact]4
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