CHANGCHUN -- Traces of wild Siberian tigers have been spotted in forests in Northeast China's Jilin province, an expansion of the tigers' range, the local forestry administration said Monday.

A forest ranger spotted 15-centimeter footprints of a feline animal in the Daxinggou forest on Dec 17. One day later, a calf was killed and eaten. On Dec 20, footprints were found again.

The animal is believed to be a male Siberian tiger.

Siberian tigers, one of the world's rarest animals, mainly live in eastern Russia, northeast China and northern parts of the Korean Peninsula. Fewer than 500 are believed to live in the wild.

Since 2015, Jilin has banned commercial logging in key forest farms to improve the habitat for Siberian tigers.

In March, Chinese authorities released a guideline to establish national parks for Siberian tigers and leopards in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces.