Siberian tiger hit by car in Russia’s Far East

Siberian tiger hit by car in Russia’s Far East

19:10 27/ 04/ 2009

MOSCOW, April 27 (RIA Novosti) – A Siberian tiger has been hit by a car on a road in the Far Eastern Khabarovsk Territory, Russian environmental regulator Rosprirodnadzor said on Monday.

“The predator is believed to have been hit by a car. Staff at the tiger inspection unit have captured it with nets to prevent attacks on humans and to enable medical treatment to be provided,” the regulator said in a statement.

The tiger will be transferred to a special center for treatment.

Last Monday, a female tiger was seriously wounded after she was hit by a car in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorye Territory. The tiger was subsequently put to sleep and the driver fined 500,000 rubles ($15,000).

Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources has requested the Interior Ministry introduce speed limits on the road, which runs near a nature reserve in Primorye, where leopards and tigers are known to roam.

Siberian tigers, also known as Amur tigers, are the world’s largest subspecies of tigers. They are on the World Conservation Union’s critically endangered status list, and there are only about 500 of them left in the wild. Since 2006, poachers have killed around 10 in Russia’s Far East.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090427/121333922.html

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