A tigress named Volya (Liberty) lives at the Sysoyev Priamursky Zoo, a regional state funded cultural institution. Volya was found in the wild in a critical condition: a poacher’s gunshot had broken her jaw and ripped her tongue. The tigress is now recovering after treatment, but not all the problems with her broken jaw could be eliminated completely and her complications have become chronic.

Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi has taken the fate of Volya under his personal control. The minister gave instructions for the prospects of the tiger’s further treatment to be assessed and to bring in Russia’s best veterinary surgeons. “Judging from the information we have, the animal first of all needs an additional veterinary check-up before we can make a decision on further treatment. We cannot rule out the possibility that Volya might need very complicated surgery. To give her a normal life, we may need help from foreign experts,” Donskoi said.

The minister also said that criminal liability was introduced last summer for poaching in Russia and is now punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to one million roubles. For public officials who use their authority to engage in illegal hunting, the sentence may be increased to five years, with a maximum two million rouble fine.