THE WORLD’S biggest tigers have unleashed on Russian people and their pets, killing villagers and leaving traces of blood in the snow.
A man and his dog were killed by the same tiger in Far East Russia amid a spate of bloody clashes which have left people fearing for their lives.
Heart-stopping CCTV video has captured numerous attacks on guard dogs by prowling Amur tigers, the largest of the world’s big cats.
The recent savagery comes after Russian president Vladimir Putin pioneered the rehabilitation of the Amur tiger in its natural habitat, eastern Russia.
Amur tigers are still endangered, but their numbers have grown rapidly since Putin launched his campaign.
It’s estimated there are now more than 750 in the wild, many of which are infiltrating Russian towns and villages, roaming the streets of residential neighbourhoods and attacking their inhabitants.
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Some believe the clash between tigers and humans may be the result of urban sprawl, as the beasts cannot find their usual prey.
Zoologist Sergei Kolchin described his view of the troubling situation to Russian environmental news outlet Kedr.
He said: “In my view, [increased tiger attacks are] associated with the destruction of the predator’s habitats due to logging, excessive hunting of [the tiger’s prey] and African swine fever, which has decimated the remaining wild boar population.”
A 2018 report by the World Wide Fund for Nature cited similar reasoning for tiger-human conflicts in Far East Russia, stating: “The erosion and fragmentation of forests decrease the tigers’ habitat,
as well as that of its prey, leading tigers to seek alternative food (e.g.
livestock) in or near human habitations.”
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Hunting by humans has also gone some way to reducing tiger prey numbers, the WWF wrote.
In December, a man named Viktor S was mauled and killed by the same beast which had some time earlier eaten his dog.
Viktor’s wife said he had “gone to look for the place where the dog was killed” in Ober village, Khabarovsk region when he was attacked.
A chilling smear of blood in the snow was one of the only traces of him left following the brutal slaughter.
The Amur Tiger Centre, an organisation dedicated to saving the species in Russia which was created on the initiative of Putin, said in a statement: “We express our sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased.”
In my view, [increased tiger attacks are] associated with the destruction of the predator’s habitats…
Sergei Kolchin
Guard dogs, some at border posts and others at houses, have been killed in large numbers across various regions in eastern Russia.
Just this weekend, one dog was killed in the village of Kutuzovka, south of Khabarovsk city, as another was eaten some 25 miles away.
But humans are also in serious danger.
Fisherman Sergey Kyalundzyuga, 19, was last year left with serious injuries when a wild tiger jumped through a window of a remote house in eastern Russia to attack him.
The animal was said to be hungry and emaciated when it pounced, smashing the glass, and grabbed hold of the teenager.
Sergey’s cousin was present at the time and shot the animal.
A 26-year-old woman barely survived a separate attack by the same type of cat, suffering “severe lacerations” to her shoulder and both of her arms last year.
She animal pounced as she ducked into the bushes to go “to the toilet” on a holiday trip; her husband drove his truck into the animal, saving her life.
Others haven’t been so lucky.
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The remains of one man were recently discovered 100 miles away from where he went missing.
There were said to have been clear traces he was attacked and devoured by a tiger.
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