This story begins in December 1997 in Primorye, a forested and mountainous region in South
East Russia.
It is an area where Siberian tigers reside and a group of armed men are driving in the
snow, responding to an urgent message about a tiger attack.
The men were part of an Inspection tiger unit, established three years previously to investigate
crimes involving tigers.
The Siberian or Amur tiger is the only one of six types of tiger that is suited to an
arctic climate.
It can swim for miles and kill animals many times its size.
Upon arrival at a cabin, the Inspection tiger unit spotted tiger markings in the snow and
a body, or rather parts of a body, of a man who lived in the cabin.
The man was a poacher called Vladimir Markov.
Poaching was against the law but the area had high poverty and unemployment and for
many it was a case of poach or starve.
Markov’s cabin had tiger tracks circling it.
Many of his items such as his axe and saucepans had been gnawed beyond recognition.
Tigers normally hunt with stealth and surprise but all the evidence here pointed to the tiger
not bothering to conceal itself, waiting in the area for a long time.
Despite being highly illegal, the attraction to hunt tigers was high, especially in poverty-stricken
areas in Primorye.
Stories of tigers being sold on the black market for thousands of dollars was too tempting
for some people, including Markov, to turn down.
Deadly tiger attacks were rare in Russia and the Inspection tiger unit had only dealt with
one before.
They were hoping this would be an isolated attack, but that would not be the case.
The Inspection tiger unit led by their squad leader, Yuri Trush, began to interview Markov’s
friends and acquaintances.
It became clear that Markov was having trouble with a tiger.
Something had occurred and it wouldn’t leave him alone.
There were rumours that Markov had killed a tiger cub and injured its mother, but on
investigation of the tracks, the size of the paw prints in the snow were so large, that
the tiger had to be male, weighing between 500-700 pounds.
What was not known at the time was that Markov had crossed the biggest tiger for 50 miles
around who was just entering his prime mating years, but with a wounded leg.
Markov had shot the tiger at point blank range in his right foreleg.
His homemade buckshot shell was not powerful enough to kill the tiger but it did make the
tiger angry and affected his ability to hunt.
The boar and deer he normally hunted were getting away.
The tiger had spent three days eating Markov after killing him but over a week later, the
tiger was starving.
The tiger’s second victim was a young former soldier, turned hunter.
He had gone out to check the traps he had set to catch weasels, but never returned home.
A search party was sent out.
They discovered his gun, an old rifle.
On inspection of the loaded bullet they could see that the gun had misfired.
His clothes, boots and what remained of his body were discovered nearby.
The Inspection tiger unit were again sent to investigate.
Trush’s reputation was on the line as many people thought they should have hunted down
and killed the tiger after its first human killing.
Checkpoints were established in the area warning visitors and the shooting order was approved
and given by authorities in Moscow.
An eight man team including Trush took part in the hunt for the tiger.
Inspection of the tiger tracks confirmed the same tiger was responsible for both attacks.
There was less blood on the tracks though, which suggested that the tiger’s wound was
healing.
The team was split into two groups of four men and they hunted on foot with dogs and
guns for protection.
One group led the tracking of the tiger, while the others warned nearby villagers and hunters
if the tracks were close to them.
After a week or so of tracking the tiger, the team came across a cabin.
The tiger had knocked things off the outer walls and found a way in through the window.
There he lay in wait for someone to return, lying on a mattress, but luckily no one did.
The tiger moved on and headed towards the hunting team.
When the team felt the latest tracks they saw, they were hot to the touch, indicating
the tiger was close and the final showdown was imminent.
Suddenly they heard the terrifying, soul-rending roar of the tiger.
In the next three seconds the tiger leapt in the air and Trush was the target.
Starting only ten yards away the tiger left no possibility of escape.
Trush managed to get his rifle to his shoulder and shot twice.
His colleagues either side of him shot at the tiger eleven times between them but it
did not stop the tiger hitting Trush at full speed, tearing his rifle from his hands.
The tiger had knocked Trush down but then somersaulted to the ground beyond him.
Trush’s rifle had gone down the tiger’s throat and the tiger was now dead.
Trush had survived thanks to split-second presence of mind and walked away with claw
wounds on his back, arm and thigh.
After showing the tiger to the villagers, the team were ordered to skin the animal.
When they did they could study his wounds in detail and discovered that the tiger had
been shot many times before.
They found a steel bullet from a different rifle, part of his tail was missing as well
as all the bullets from his attack on Trush and the buckshot in his leg from Markov.
Trush realised that it was men who were responsible fo the animal’s aggression.
At the time of writing at the end of 2009, it was thought there were less than 400 tigers
in the Russian Far East.
A portion of the proceeds of the book are going to various organisations working towards
tiger protection in Primorye.