A portrait of a rare Amur tiger family captured on film in the wild has provided clues that the notoriously solitary male big cats may play a role in rearing cubs. Scientists have long believed that the large adult males tend to leave females to raise their young and they are known to even attack and kill cubs when they come across them. However, in an astonishing new set of images captured by a camera trap in the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve in eastern Russia, a large male Amur tiger is seen leading a family of three cubs and their mother through the snowy forest. Scroll down for video of the tiger family passing the camera trap . The above photograph, captured with a camera trap, shows a family of three Amur tiger cubs and a female being led through a snowy forest by a large male in the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve in east Russia. It was created by stitching together several images . The images could help scientists learn new details of the role male tigers play in rearing their young. Dr Svetlana Soutyrina, deputy director for scientific programs at the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve who set the camera traps, said: 'We have collected hundreds of photos of tigers over the years, but this is the first time we have recorded a family together. Also known as the Siberian tiger, the Amur tiger is one of the most endangered big cats on the planet. They are a subspecies of tiger, that along with the Bengal tiger, are the biggest cats in the world. The largest male measured more than 3.5 metres (11 feet) in length and can weigh up to 318kg (701lbs). Their range once extended right across Siberia and down into China and South Korea. However, heavy poaching and loss of their natural range due to habitat loss has caused their populations to plummet. There are now just 500 left living in the wild. 'These images confirm that male Amur tigers do participate in family life, at least occasionally, and we were lucky enough to capture one such moment.' There have been a few rare examples of male Bengal tigers taking an active role in parenting in the past but it has never been seen in Amur tigers. In 2011 a male was found to be caring for a pair of orphaned cubs in the Ranthambore tiger reserve in Rajasthan, India. However, such behaviour is extremely rare and more commonly male tigers will kill the cubs of another male to reduce competition. After mating male tigers tend to leave a female to rear the cubs herself but will provide protection for them while they remain inside his territory. Large males will often have several females in their territory. In some rare cases they have also been seen to kill prey to feed his family. The pictures were captured as part of a project between the Wildlife Conservation Society's Russia Program, the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve and Udegeiskaya Legenda National Park. Camera traps set up in the forest captured the family in a series of 21 images over a period of two minutes as they walked past. The resulting images were then stitched together to show the family as a whole. Jonathan Slaght, , Russia Program Project Manager for the Wildlife Conservation Society, said: 'Male Amur tigers, which have home ranges that typically overlap the home ranges of several females, try to associate with those females as they patrol their own territories. 'An adult male might pass through a female’s territory every one or two months so, if the male and female were to meet up every time, this behavior might occur 6-12 times per year. 'However, considering that an adult male Amur tiger has a home range between 1,000-2,000 square kilometers, and an adult female has a territory about 400 square kilometers, having a camera trap in the right place at the right time to document this—especially with young in tow—is incredibly rare. 'In fact, this behaviour of an adult male Amur tiger traveling with a family unit of a female and her cubs has never been photographed before.' The large male tiger was the first to trigger the camera trap (above) as he broke the trail for his family through the forest in east Russia . The Amur tiger cubs, two of which can be seen above, followed closely in their parents footsteps, triggering the trap as they passed . Amur tigers are among the most endangered big cats in the world - thee are just 430-500 left remaining in the wild. Dr Dale Miquelle, Russia director for Wildlife Conservation Society, said: 'This is the first time such behaviour has been photographed for Amur tigers in the wild. 'These photos provide a small vignette of social interactions of Amur tigers, and provide an evocative snapshot of life in the wild for these magnificent animals.' The tigers were captured on film using camera traps that were set up in the forests of Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve in eastern Russia .
Extraordinary picture shows male leading female and cubs through Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve in east Russia . Large adult male tigers usually have several mates within their territory and leave females to raise their cubs alone . Males are usually highly aggressive and can pose a threat to small cubs - killing those belonging to rival males . Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, are critically endangered with less than 500 thought to be left  in the wild . The new picture suggests that male tigers may play a far greater role in rearing cubs than was previously believed .