Experts at the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) have submitted the medical tests results for a male Amur tiger found in the Amur Region to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The results of the tests show that the animal blood serum has reacted negatively to various pathogens, including the canine distemper virus.

Moreover, the results of clinical and biochemical blood tests show that any deviations from normal standards can be put down to stress and a long period of hunger.

A preliminary report notes that the tiger’s backbone was fractured after it was hit by a motor vehicle, and that its hind legs were temporarily paralysed as a result. The tiger also sustained some other injuries.

Experts had believed that the tiger was infected with a viral disease known as distemper, which they thought had affected the locomotor centre of the tiger’s spinal cord.

The Amur tiger has already received all necessary medical assistance, tests have been conducted, including tomography scans, but the animal is still being monitored by vets.

Acting on the instruction of Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi, the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) is currently assessing several options for rehoming the tiger somewhere that would closely resemble the tiger’s natural habitat. For instance, the tiger could be sent to a rehabilitation centre in the Primorye Territory which is home to animals injured by hunters and poachers.