The new 2.5-hectare Tiigriorg ("Tiger Valley") development features large and diverse living conditions plus pathways connecting various habitats.

A feeding platform involves pieces of meat hung by a cable above the tigers' habitat, requiring the animals to put in some effort to get their food.

As well as the Siberian tigers, the facility also hosts other animals from the Far East.

Two more tigers, Aleksander and Ohana, are to join Danuta, who was recently bereaved after her mate Pootsman died at the age of 13, following an operation.

The pair had been brought from Ljubljana Zoo in Slovenia, though Pootsman was a former resident of Tallinn Zoo, having lived there for several years before moving.

In his short time at Tiger Valley, Pootsman got to explore a little, but not much.

Zoo director Kaupo Heinma said: "However his mate Danuta, who came with him, went exploring for the first time yesterday, and hopefully, now visitors will also be able to see her comings and goings."

Two more tigers will move into Tiger Valley. A two-year-old named Ohana, who came from Helsinki's Korkeasaari Zoo, is already in country.

At the end of next week, a young male named Aleksander will arrive, this time from Scotland. "Hopefully, he will pair up with Ohana, and we will see little tiger cubs in the future," Heinma added.

Pootsman had been moved around zoos in recent years with the same aim in mind, and had fathered several cubs as a result.

While he passed away last Monday, Pootsman's legacy lives on in these offspring – now fully grown and numbering at least half-a-dozen.

Pootsman's skin will go to the natural history museum and may be used for taxidermny or may be put in storage, Heima said, while his skull will be place in a small educational exhibit zone.

"In fact, Pootsman has left a very large and impressive Tiger Valley complex, for other tigers and many other species, as his legacy," Heinma noted.

Following a routine dental procedure, Pootsman was found to have a large tumor which, while a risky procedure, was operated on.

Sadly he died from heart failure while being rescuscitated from anesthesia.

Heinma noted there had "certainly been questions on whether this surgery was necessary.

"However we must remember that a wild animal, especially a predator, does not reveal the extent to which it is in pain. Taking into consideration the animal's well-being, this decision was appropriate. He passed away, but without suffering for a lengthy period," Heinma added.

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