Giant Amur tigers, the world's largest cats, are on a rampage in eastern Russia, killing people and eating dogs. The attacks come after President Vladimir Putin's conservation efforts helped boost the endangered species' numbers to over 750 in the wild.
In December, Viktor S was mauled to death in the Khabarovsk region while searching for the spot where his dog was killed, likely by the same tiger. Earlier, fisherman Sergey Kyalundzyuga, 19, was seriously injured when a tiger jumped through his window; his cousin shot the animal dead.
Last year, Darya Ulyanova, 26, suffered severe lacerations when a tiger attacked her as she went to the toilet in the bushes during a holiday. Her husband saved her by ramming the tiger with his truck.
CCTV footage shows tigers killing guard dogs in multiple villages. In one incident, a tiger killed a trained guard dog at a Russian border post with China. Just this weekend, a tiger killed a dog in Kutuzovka, then another in Srednekhorskii, 25 miles away.
Zoologist Sergei Kolchin linked the attacks to habitat destruction from logging, excessive hunting of prey, and African swine fever decimating wild boar populations. Poaching remains a threat, but the tiger population has rebounded from near extinction in Soviet times.
