Following two flight tragedies that nearly jeopardized his own life, Leonardo DiCaprio has donated $1 million to a cause to rescue tigers.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has complimented Leonardo DiCaprio as a “a real man” for his perseverance in attending a tiger-saving summit in St Petersburg.

When other pilots reported seeing a spark in one of the outgoing plane’s engines, DiCaprio was one of more than 200 passengers on board a Moscow-bound Delta Air Lines aircraft that had to return to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday. According to Putin, the actor then boarded a private plane that had to stop in Finland early Tuesday for refueling due to severe winds.

‘Not everyone would be willing to take a plane again after what Mr. DiCaprio experienced, but he did,’ he told an audience during a rock event devoted to tiger conservation.

‘Here, in Russia, we call such a person a “real man”.’

‘If wildlife and tiger conservation is in the hands of people with such character, we are destined to succeed,’ he remarked.

At the press conference, Mr Putin said DiCaprio, “I would like to thank you for coming despite all the obstacles.”

DiCaprio has donated $1 million (£635,000) to the cause. According to the statement, DiCaprio has previously aided the organization in raising $20 million for tiger protection earlier this year.

When Mr. Putin saw DiCaprio in the crowd, he interrupted his scheduled address.

Mr Putin said, “A person with less stable nerves could have decided against coming, could have read it as a sign – that it was not worth going.”

Over the previous century, the number of tigers in the wild has decreased by 95%, to only 3,200.

According to the Global Tiger Recovery Programme, the 13 nations will need around $350 million in outside assistance in the first five years of the 12-year plan to assure the tiger’s survival.

The nations, which include Russia, whose Far East is home to Siberian tigers, the biggest tiger subspecies, have pledged to double the tiger population by 2022 and combat poaching and the illegal trafficking in tiger pelts and body parts.

Russian roots

Two of DiCaprio’s late grandparents were Russian, and he had always wanted to take his grandmother to St Petersburg, he told the prime minister.

“I’m sure when you get to know St Petersburg you will be proud of your Russian roots,” Mr Putin remarked.