Experts from the Hunting Committee at the Khabarovsk Territory Ministry of Natural Resources reported that the tiger that has been attacking dogs in Nanaisky District villages since early January has not been seen in the area for over a week.

Most likely, the predator left for the taiga for good. However, the Hunting Committee still has permission from the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) to capture the animal.

In fact, there were no objective reasons for it to leave: the locals did not remove the dogs from streets, which we repeatedly asked them to do. There are still many stray dogs. But the predator has not entered the villages again. We will continue monitoring the situation and will capture the tiger if it returns,” said Yuri Kolpak, head of the Wildlife Conservation Department of the Hunting Committee.

The tiger also could have moved to the nearby protected area, Anyuisky National Park, which is located only a few kilometres away.

Sergei Aramilev, general director of the Amur Tiger Centre, noted that the tiger came to the villages looking for a territory and was attracted by the dogs, which are easy prey.

“In this case, it seems, we are dealing with a tiger that I call “lone wanderer.” These are young males looking for a new territory. Our wanderer roamed through areas that lacked prey and he hunted dogs for food. I hope that the tiger has found a suitable territory and finished its notorious journey,” Aramilev said.