A rare Siberian tiger has been found dead on a road in Russia after apparently being killed by a stronger alpha-male rival.
The incident took place near the village of Yuzhny, which is located in the Khabarovsk Krai region in far-eastern Russia, on Friday, 18th February.
The Amur Tiger Centre, which is investigating the incident, said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “The corpse of a young tiger was found, which most likely died from wounds received in a fight with a larger male.
“An external examination conducted by the Khabarovsk Krai hunting supervision staff at the scene showed the presence of numerous lacerations.”
The centre explained that traces of blood and various footprints and tracks had allowed staff to develop the theory regarding what had taken place.
The centre said that the winner in the fight was much stronger than the loser, which received numerous injuries.
It said that the winner had left the “battlefield” after emerging victorious from the duel and that the loser had remained there, emerging onto the road a few days later, where it collapsed and died.
Sergey Aramilev, Director General of the Amur Tiger Centre, said: “As we know, tiger cubs, entering adulthood, actively move around the region in search of their own territory.
“Such tigers are also called ‘transit’ tigers. And, unfortunately, such tragedies can happen during wanderings: a young tiger in a duel with a larger male gets wounds that become fatal for the loser.”
He added: “However, there are times when one of the tigers may be injured, or weakened by illness, which determines the outcome of the fight. We will clarify these points in the course of the examination.”
Footage shared online by the centre shows at least two people investigating blood on the snow in a forested area. Other images show the deceased tiger after it was found in the road.
Siberian tigers, which are also known as Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), are still listed as ‘endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species. They are also listed as endangered in Russia’s Red Book of endangered species.
The corpse of the young tiger will be taken to the Amur Tiger Centre for further analysis.
