BONGHWA, North Gyeongsang Province -- South Korea's forest authorities said Tuesday they plan to open an arboretum with two Siberian tigers strolling in a "tiger forest" in southeastern South Korea next week as part of efforts to preserve the endangered species in the wild.

The Korea Forest Service will open to the public on May 3 the National Baekdu-daegan Arboretum located on a mountain range near Bonghwa, a town in South Korea's southeast province of North Gyeongsang, before showing visitors the two Siberian tigers -- a 13-year-old female named Hancheong and a seven-year-old male named Uri from Seoul Grand Park -- in the arboretum's 4.8 hectare forest the following day.

The arboretum, which has been established on a site of 27,600 square meters as the largest one of its kind in Asia, is also equipped with a natural vault to store up to 56,670 seed samples of 3,200 species and 27 exhibition gardens including an alpine swamp and a wild flower hill. It is also home to 3.85 million plants of 2,002 species.

According to the arboretum, the tiger forest, as large as seven full-size soccer pitches and the largest one displaying tigers in South Korea, is made to be similar to the natural habitats where wild tigers live and has safety fences around it that keep the tigers from escaping to ensure the safety of visitors who come to see them roaming in the wild.