The tiger found in the Amur Region and called Amur Senior died at night on February 16 in Vladivostok’s circus. A representative of the Tiger Special Inspection from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said that the animal’s condition deteriorated every day despite all efforts of vets.

The autopsy has shown that the tiger died of cancer of kidneys and adrenal glands. Inspectors found the wounded animal in the Arkharinsk District of the Amur Region in late January and brought it to a safari park in the Amur Region.  It was reported earlier that foreign and domestic vets agreed that the tiger should be put to sleep because its chances of survival were scarce. On Tuesday the tiger underwent a second tomography and was delivered to Vladivostok’s circus where he died on Sunday night.

“The autopsy has shown that the tiger had cancer of kidneys and adrenalin glands. Vets believe this is why its hindlimbs failed to move, it developed complications and eventually died. The second tomography showed inflammation of the inward parts of its body but it was hard to determine what the cause was,” said the expert.

He said the tiger had an advanced stage of cancer. “When it was found in the Amur Region, it had probably crept out to die. There are no grounds to assume that the tiger had fought with a hog because in this case it would have had stab wounds and would have either died of them in the same place or would have won,” the expert said.

He emphasized that no cases of the tiger’s cancer have been revealed in the Far East in the past because in the wild even if tigers die of cancer, they are instantly eaten up. Autopsies of tigers kept in parks are rare and vets have no experience of diagnosing tigers with cancer.

“From now on vets will look for similar pathology and make some cancer tests. The tiger’s body will be cremated in the reserve after a relevant permit is issued by a representative of the Hunting Supervision Committee. Its internals may be taken for research but will be cremated later,” the expert said.