Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi has filed a request to the Prosecutor General's Office to thoroughly investigate the killing of an Amur tiger in Leopard Land National Park in the Primorye Territory. The same requests have been submitted to the Ministry of Interior and the Investigative Committee.

The tiger's body was found on 21 November by state inspectors while patrolling the territory, a representative of the park said.

"The murdered tiger, reportedly an adult male, was found at about 8 pm on the Razdolnoye-Khasan Motorway near the Narva River. The inspectors found a bullet hole under the tiger's right shoulder blade. No other injuries were found. The tiger's body is now in the custody of the state inspectorate. Testimony has been given to the Khasan District Department of the Interior to open a criminal case," the representative reported.

"The tiger was allegedly killed a few days ago by hunters using blinding devices. This is a kind of poaching where an animal is detected by the glow of its eyes in the headlights. The animal usually does not flee and can be killed easily," said Acting Deputy Director for the Protection of Leopard Land National Park Yevgeny Stoma.

According to the official website of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, criminalists and police officers are investigating at the site. A criminal case may be opened. The tiger's body has been submitted for an autopsy.

According to park officials, the park now has 23 Amur tigers. Unfortunately, this is not the first case of tiger poaching in the region.

Minister Donskoi stressed that every effort should be made to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

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On 26 November 2013, the Interior Ministry's Primorye Territory office opened an illegal hunting case following the killing of an Amur tiger.

The illegal hunting and selling of rare wild animals and water animals that are listed in the Russian Red Data Book of endangered species and/or protected by Russia's international agreements, or regulations based on those agreements, is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a large fine.

On 2 December 2013 the Amur Tiger Centre, an NGO established to preserve and increase the Siberian tiger population, offered a 300,000 rouble reward for information on the killing of an Amur tiger in Leopard Land National Park.

A source at the Primorye Territory Game and Rare Species Department promised that the authorities would guarantee confidentiality to anyone providing information on the killing.