A man who tracked down a Siberian tiger after it attacked and ran off with his pet dog was killed by the same tiger when he finally caught up with the wild animal.
The body of the man, who has not been identified, was found in a forest in the remote Khabarovsk territory in Russia with signs that he had been viciously mauled by an animal, according to the regional investigators.
The dog owner followed the tiger a long distance using its animal tracks as guidance until he allegedly came across the wild animal in the forest, the Amur Tiger Centre said.
The centre added that the tiger presumably would have regarded the man as a threat and, therefore, attacked him.
The man’s body was found near the remains of his dog.
The wife of the man who was killed spoke through tears to local news outlet RenTV and said she pleaded with him not to go after the tiger but was unable to hold her husband back from going.
“He was walking around out there in the evening, yes, looking. He found the spot where [the tiger] had gone,” she said.
“And in the morning, he got up as if in a trance, got ready, and left, [saying], ‘I’ll go look for the dog. I’ll go and see where he ate it.’”
Unfortunately, the man never returned home to his family.
Siberian tigers are the largest species of tiger in the world— (AFP via Getty Images)
"We express our sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased," a statement from the tiger centre said.
The regional police said the incident is being investigated, and the authorities are deciding whether to “remove” the tiger from the wild.
Local residents in the village of Obor said they live in fear of the wild tigers, especially after what happened to the man.
Only a few days before, another man’s dog was reportedly snatched and killed by a tiger, RenTV said.
Residents told the outlet that during the winter, they are especially afraid to go out and are worried for their children, who have to get to school while the tigers are on the loose in the nearby forest.
Authorities from the Khabarovsk territory said, according to The Moscow Times, that almost 300 incidents of tigers wandering into populated areas have been reported in 2023, and residents have asked President Vladimir Putin to give them better protection from the tigers.
While the Siberian tigers do pose a threat to the population, they are an endangered species, with their population falling by 25 times over the past 100 years, according to the Russian Geographical Society.
Siberian tigers are the largest tigers in the world and can reach a weight of 300kg.
