On 2 February, the conflict resolution group of the Primorye Territory Department of Hunting Supervision caught a young Amur tigress near the village of Aleksei-Nikolskoye in the Ussuriisky District. The group  was  forced to capture the tigress after the villagers failed to scare off the animal, which had attacked dogs and showed no fear of people.

After the tigress was caught, she was taken to the Centre for the Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Tigers and Other Rare Animals (Tiger Centre) in the village of Alekseyevka, where she was examined and placed in a quarantine enclosure. Specialists note that the animal behaved quite calmly towards people, which is not typical.

“A clinical examination of the tigress was carried out, and samples were taken. She is less than five years old. First, we must understand why the tigress behaved so strangely: there are many ungulates in the place where she was caught, but the tigress went to the villages to hunt dogs. Second, it seems that the tigress is not afraid of people. And third, we observed her yesterday, and it seems that she has some problems with the back of her body. Therefore, we must monitor her in the enclosure, and, if necessary, provide medical care and then take a balanced decision on her future,” said Viktor Kuzmenko, director of the Tiger Centre.

In the future, experts will monitor the animal, as well as track her paw prints to find out where she carried the dead dogs and how she lived. Now it is important to understand the reasons for her behaviour, as well as to conduct a more complete veterinary exam.

“It is important that the local population no longer has to worry about the tiger. And the tigress’s life has been spared. As a young female, she can give birth to many offspring in the future,” said Dmitry Pankratov, director of the Primorye Territory Department of Hunting Supervision.

There is another tigress at the rehabilitation centre who was taken from a settlement in the Khabarovsk Territory in late January. Researchers from the centre suggest that this female is likely to be a senior, since her teeth are badly damaged. Scientists note that the tigress is gradually getting better, as she has begun to eat and climb on a wooden shelf.

The work of the conflict resolution group of the Primorye Territory Department of Hunting Supervision and the Tiger Centre is made possible with the support of the Amur Tiger Centre.