Man Confronts Siberian Tiger That Killed His Dog, Gets Mauled to Death

A 76-year-old man in Russia’s Khabarovsk region was mauled to death by an Amur tiger after apparently trying to confront the cat for attacking his dog.

“Well, [the tiger] took his dog, so he followed its trail and ran into it, as they say,” a local resident of the village of Obor was quoted as telling REN-TV of the attack.

The man’s grief-stricken wife told the news station she’d tried to talk him out of going after the tiger, also known as a Siberian tiger, but to no avail.

“He was walking around out there in the evening, yes, looking. He found the spot where [the tiger] had gone. 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.’”

Local authorities say the man had no problem finding the tiger and his dead dog—but that’s exactly when the animal pounced on him. His body was later found in the forest near the remains of his dog, according to the nonprofit Amur Tiger Center, which said the man had “followed the animal’s tracks in the forest for a considerable distance” before stumbling upon the tiger with its prey.

Some residents say villagers have been living in fear of the tiger for years, with parents afraid to let their children out near the forest.

“People can’t do this anymore, they are constantly living in fear,” one woman said.

“It’s very scary. I have two schoolchildren and they didn’t go to school today. They didn’t go, I didn’t let them,” another resident said.

Investigators have reportedly gotten to work on tracking the tiger with plans to remove it.

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