Despite tougher laws tiger poaching persists in Russia

On November 21, 2013, while patrolling the Land of the Leopard National Park (Primorsky krai, Russian Far East), rangers discovered a dead male Amur tiger. The predator is believed to have been killed by poachers in a late night hunting incident, taking into account that a gunshot wound was found below its shoulder. A post-mortem examination will be performed soon in order to determine the cause of death.

“Despite the fact that in Russia on July 2, 2013 criminal responsibility was imposed for the harvest and smuggling of highly-valued wildlife and aquatic biological resources, poachers have not been deterred by those legal amendments and continue to kill protected animals. In early August, a tiger skin was found in Khabarovsky krai, but there is no news as to whether the poachers involved in that crime were caught. Now, this cruel tiger killing seems to mock at the Russian Government’s efforts to protect rare and endangered big cat species. We hope that law enforcement agencies will respond promptly to this case and make every effort to identify and arrest criminals”, says Director of the TigerTime funded Phoenix Fund Sergei Bereznuk .

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Photos (c) Land of the Leopard National Park