vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #555 / Environment / Reading article...

Specialists from the ‘Tiger’ Inspectorate in Primorye decided to capture an Amur tiger which approached the village of Meteoritnoye in Krasnoarmeysky County on Monday, killing a dog and attacking its owner. The tiger has been lurking near the village since the incident and has already made several trips into the settlement scaring locals to death.

The tiger came to the village of Meteoritnoye in northern Primorye on Monday and killed the dog in one of the households. The owner of the dog had to climb a tree in his yard to save his life. The tiger, however, managed to scratch the man’s leg. The victim of the tiger’s attack refused to be taken to the hospital saying the scratch was not serious.

After the incident experts from the Tiger Inspectorate arrived in the village to resolve the dispute between the animal and villagers. The locals were warned not to leave their homes at night time and to keep their cattle locked up. At the same time the inspectorate specialists tried to scare the tiger away.

“When the tiger came to the village on Tuesday night our inspectors shot in the air, made noise and approached the animal in the car. However, the tiger did not leave the village despite the fact that the tiger did not manage to get any animals,” deputy head of the Tiger Inspectorate Vitaly Starostin said, Ria Novosti cited him as saying.

The inspectorate’s experts on Wednesday announced a decision to capture the intruding tiger and examine the animal due to its confrontational behavior. According to inspectors, about 10 cases of tiger-human encounters were reported in Primorye this winter. In most cases tigers approached the villages but did not attack people.

The Amur Tiger is considered an endangered animal in Primorye, with only 450 left in the wild.