An endangered male Amur (also known as Siberian) tiger emerged from the wild and inched his way toward border guards at a Russian border post on the frontier with China.
He stuck around the area and refused to leave, despite the guards’ best efforts to scare him away.
Land of Leopard via The Siberian Times
Rather than shooting the big cat, the guards fired warning gunshots, but the tiger still didn’t go back into the wild.
Since the tiger didn’t want to go back into the wild, he knew he had to find a way to survive, so he killed the guards’ dogs and ate them.
Five days later, the guards still saw him in the same spot and contacted wildlife rangers.
The rangers knew something had to be wrong, since this behavior was very atypical of tigers, who usually stay away from humans.
TRNGO ‘Center Tiger’ via The Siberian Times
They realized that this old tiger, who is estimated to be around 15 years old, had come toward the humans as a cry for help. He was injured and was asking the guards for assistance.
The rangers shot a sedative into him and brought him to a big cat rehabilitation center where he will get the help he needs.
TRNGO ‘Center Tiger’ via The Siberian Times
Since he is so old, he may not be able to be released back into the wild, but he will be in the best hands at the center.
Sergey Aramilev, general director of the Amur Tiger Centre, said he was pleased with how the guards handled the situation and will even provide them with two new puppies.
